Thousands of small businesses ruined due to flawed policies of Modi govt: Sibal

The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign, saying soldiers, farmers, Dalits and minorities were dying under the watch of the 'chowkidar'. He also raised the issue of demonetisation and alleged that thousands of small businesses were ruined due to the flawed policies of the Union government.

Modi and his partymen have launched the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt the Opposition's, especially the Congress's, 'chowkidar chor hai (watchman is a thief) slogan. Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said as many as 6,351 farmers committed suicide in 2016 while the number of protests by farmers increased from 628 in 2014 to 4,837 in 2016.

"As many as 52 per cent of farming families are indebted today with an average outstanding loan of Rs 1 lakh. From July to December 2018, the minimum support price (MSP) increase merely covered the input cost and was way below the Swaminathan Commission recommendations," he said. The Congress leader said that soldiers were being killed everyday and that the number of security personnel killed in terrorist attacks had risen ever since the Modi dispensation assumed office, citing strikes in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama.

"More than 60 security personnel have been martyred since the Pulwama attack. Everyday our soldiers are martyred. Why is the 'chowkidar' asleep during these terror attacks," asked Sibal. He claimed that between 2010 and January 2019, 123 cases of cow-related violence were reported with over 50 per cent victims and 78 per cent of those killed in these incidents being Muslims.

"Ninety-eight per cent of these crimes took place after 2014 and in 14 states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party," he claimed. Quoting an Amnesty International report, he said that in 2018, there were 218 hate crimes, of which 192 were against Dalits and minorities. Slamming the Modi government over demonetisation, Sibal asked why the common citizens were made to suffer. "Thousands of small businesses had to close down, sowing of crops was delayed and demand collapsed which impacted farmers' income," he said.

"The GDP took a hit of close to 2 per cent in the quarter of demonetisation while 15 lakh jobs were lost in the first four months after demonetisation," he added. "Modi ji did chowkidari for Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallaya, Smriti Irani over her university degree and for himself over Rafale documents. He also turned chowkidar for those accused of violence," he alleged.

(With inputs from agencies.)