Narendra Modi govt "afraid" of facing no-confidence motion, says Rahul Gandhi

MYSURU: As the parliament logjam persisted for nearly two weeks, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused the Narendra Modi government of being "afraid" to face the no-confidence motion moved against it. "In parliament, a no-confidence motion against the Modi government has been moved. For the past 10 days it has been stalled because the government is afraid," Gandhi said at a public rally here. The second half of the budget session of Parliament has been a complete washout since commencement with protests from Congress, AIADMK, TDP and YSR Congress Party on various issues stalling the proceedings. Congress has given a notice to move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government, becoming the third party to do so after YSRCP and TDP. With the Lok Sabha not being in order, the no-confidence motion of YSRCP and TDP have not been taken up so far. The government has stated that it was willing for a discussion on the no-confidence motion. In his speeches almost devoted entirely to attack Modi, Gandhi chided the government on the Punjab National Bank scam, foreign policy and Jammu and Kashmir situation. "Wherever you see around India, you would find China. You would find China in Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Maldives...Once they were India's friends, they are now China's friends", he said. "On Bhutan's land, China builds a road and a helipad and keeps a guard and 56-inch person does not speak a word," he said, taking a jibe at the Prime Minister. On Jammu and Kashmir, he said there were terror attacks in the state but when the Congress-led UPA government came to power, it broke the spine of terrorists. Neither civilians nor soldiers were being killed, he claimed. "But for the sake of power, Modi backed PDP to form government and ignited fire in Jammu and Kashmir... there is violence in Jammu and Kashmir and Modiji is not speaking a word", Rahul said. On the coming assembly polls in Karnataka, Gandhi said he was confident of his party winning not only the state but also the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "Congress needs to fight harder at every single booth and defeat BJP.I am confident that we will win Karnataka in 2018 and in the General Election in 2019 too," he said. Gandhi said Congress would give a tough fight to BJP in each and every booth and give them a crushing defeat. He also alleged that Modi does not care for farmers' welfare as he refused to waive off their loans. Gandhi said the fight was between two ideologies of creating conflicts and uniting the nation. "This fight is between ideologies. On one hand, we have BJP-RSS who have an ideology that creates conflict between religions and on the other hand there is the Congress whose ideology unites this nation," he said. At a rally in K R Pete, Gandhi continued his attack on the Janata Dal (Secular) and asked former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's party to come clean on its support to the BJP. "JD(S), they have to make it clear whether they are the BJP's B team or not," Gandhi said at the meeting in the Vokkaliga belt of the old Mysuru region, considered a JD(S) stronghold. "They (JD-S) have to make it clear whether they are supporting the BJP, if yes, why? The JD(S) stands for 'Janata Dal Sangh Parivar'," he added. The Congress president, who was in the fourth round of campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka, toured the old Mysuru region, where the Vokkaliga community has a significant presence. The JD(S) enjoys the support of the Vokkaligas. He had earlier toured the northern, coastal and Malnad regions. The Assembly election is due in Karnataka by April-May. Terming employment generation the "biggest problem" in the country, Gandhi attacked the BJP-led central government for "not" fulfilling the promises it had made to the people such as job creation and addressing the issue of farmers' distress. Praising the Siddaramaiah government in the state, he said it had worked for the poor, downtrodden and backward communities. Gandhi even credited the Chief Minister with running a "clean government". Raising the Nirav Modi issue and alleging that the diamantaire had run away with Rs 22,000 crore, the Congress president questioned Modi's silence on the matter. "What kind of chowkidari (watchman's job) is Narendra Modi doing," he asked.