Modi has delivered blows to the economy: Congress
New Delhi, Oct 14: The Congress Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over the falling rupee and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "monumental mismanagement" of the economy and delivering blows to it.
The opposition party said in 2014, Modi had promised to strengthen the rupee if he became prime minister and said he would bring it to the level of 40 per dollar.
Addressing a press conference at the party office here, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma pointed out that the rupee had, on more than one occasion, crossed 74 to a dollar, whereas the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had left it at 59 to a dollar.
"There has been a monumental mismanagement of the Indian economy under the BJP-led NDA government. They have been busy, the prime minister in particular and his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, either making false claims, or embellishing and manufacturing numbers just to mislead the people," he said.
A nation could not have a sound economy if it was not attracting investments, the Congress leader said.
On demonetisation, Sharma said Modi's arbitrary and reckless decision wiped off more than 90 per cent of the currency in circulation in one stroke, destroyed not only factories but crores of jobs and soon after that, there was a hasty imposition of a flawed Goods and Services Tax (GST).
"If you put all that together, you will realise that this is the highest GST and the most complex one when it comes to compliance, which has been thrust on the country. So, these are the blows Modi has delivered," he said.
The Congress leader took a dig at the finance minister by describing him as a blog writer rather than being an efficient minister and said the Centre attributed the slowing down of the economy, the falling rupee and all such things to global factors.
But strangely, these factors were only evident in India and not other economies of Asia which were not affected by those, he said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
