If it was Suit Boot Ki Sarkar and Fair and Lovely scheme, which added zing to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier, there was a flurry of such slogans from him this time as he took on Modi on the issue of demonetisation, describing the move as Garibon Se Paisa Khichon, Amiron Ko Sichon, and even coining one inspired by the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Namak Halaal—Ram Naam Japna, Garib Ka Maal Apna.
Rahul fine-tuned his attack on Modi as he described demonetisation as an anti-poor move, and said it was a personal decision of the prime minister in keeping with the philosophy of the RSS and the BJP to instill fear.
Talking about the announcement of the move on November 8 by Modi, he said the prime minister had announced the decision quite like Bachchan delivering a dialogue in a movie. He said, part-mocking Modi and even seeming to mimic Bachchan: “Mitron, put your hands in your pockets. The Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes that you have there are now mere pieces of paper.”
Alleging that demonetisation was carried out with the aim of getting all the money of the poor and the middle class into the banks and using it to help the industrialists, who are not able to repay their loans, get away.
“The Rs 8 lakh crore will go into their pockets. Modi believes in Garibon Se Paisa Khichon, Amiron Ko Sichon,” Rahul said.
He then said a popular song from the film Namak Halaal fit the situation best. "Ram Naam Japna, Garib Ka Maal Apna. This is the philosophy of this Suit Boot Ki Sarkar,” he said as he delivered the concluding address at the Congress' day-long Jan Vedna Sammelan organised to launch the second phase of the party's campaign against demonetisation.
If demonetisation has emerged as the main weapon to attack Modi, Rahul is clearly the one who will be leading it. It was his show entirely, as he spoke both at the beginning of the convention and at the end, exhorting party workers and leaders to intensify their campaign against the Modi government. Congress President Sonia Gandhi was not present at the event, and Rahul, who is slated to take over as party president, read out a message from his mother.
Rahul also accused the Modi government of practising politics of fear, saying demonetisation had also instilled fear in the hearts of the farmer, the labourer and the middle class. He said the Congress was committed to fighting this ideology.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Rahul charged Modi with having brought disrepute to the prime minister's post by the way he took the decision of demonetisation. He said it was for the first time in history that the prime minister of India was being ridiculed the world over. "Never before has every single economist of any repute said that the prime minister of India took such an incompetent and bad decision," he said.
He accused the Modi dispensation of weakening constitutional institutions, including the Reserve Bank of India, the judiciary and the Election Commission. "Today there is no institution in this country that is respected," Rahul said.
Rahul said the media was also amongst the institutions that have been weakened by the Modi government. He claimed that the media was working under pressure from the government. “The media is scared. If feels it should not say too much.”
He said the prime minister has jumped from one catchy phrase to another—from clean India to surgical strikes to demonetisation— without delivering his promise of achhe din.
Taking a dig at Modi's espousal of yoga, Rahul said he observed Modi and saw that the prime minister is unable to perform Padmasana. “Whoever does yoga properly should be able to do Padmasana.”
"I want to tell the people of India that achhe din will come only when the Congress party comes back to power in 2019," he said.
The convention marks the intensification of the Congress' campaign against demonetisation ahead of the Assembly elections and even sets the tone for the fight between the two parties in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
