In a point by point rebutal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticisms and assertions during his Parliament speech, the Opposition Congress on Monday said that PM’s statement thanking President Droupadi Murmu was “low level” and lacked “decorum.”

“Modi ji, you are the Prime Minister of the country, for how long will you keep making jokes in the Parliament like a small leader and getting your crowd to clap? Your statement on greeting the President was low level and without decorum as always,” Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate wrote on ‘X’.

She further gave a point by point rebutal to the prime minister’s claims and his assertions about the Congress.

During his speech, PM Modi mentioned that India has become the 5th largest economy in the world, a significant improvement from the 11th spot in 2014.

On this, Shrinate said, “…the reality is that during your rule, the annual growth rate in per capita GDP on the basis of purchasing power has been only 4.3%, which was 6.2% during the government of Dr. Manmohan Singh. Around 15.4 crore people were registered in MNREGA because the employment situation in cities and villages is poor.”

The Prime Minister had also claimed that his government brought 25 crore people out of poverty.

The Congress spokesperson questioned this claim and said, “There are four big problems in this statement of yours: a) If the number of poor has decreased, then why has consumption fallen to only 4.4%? b) If poverty has fallen to 11.7%, meaning only about 15 crore people are poor, then why is the government forced to give free ration to 80 crore people? c) Why did not any third party support this claim of NITI Aayog – after all, World Bank, IMF, someone would have accepted this? d) Why did NITI Aayog change the established standards of measuring poverty and choose such standards which are based on the flagship schemes of the government?”

On the PM’s 1.25 crore agriculture budget claim, she said, “The agriculture budget has declined continuously in the last 5 years. The budget for agriculture in FY 20 was 5.44% of GDP, which has now come down to less than 3%. Forget doubling the farmer’s income; the farmer is earning only ₹ 27 per day, and your government has not even spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore in agriculture in the last 5 years.”

In his speech, the PM asserted that inflation is now under control. However, the Congress leader countered his claim, saying, “…you imposed GST on flour, curd, pen, book, medicine, hospital, everything. You made the petrol of Rs 71 cross the Rs 100 mark, ( ₹ You made the cylinder of Rs 400 cross the Rs 1000 mark, ( ₹ You made the oil sold at Rs 90 cross the Rs 220 mark, ₹ ₹ ₹ You made Arhar Dal ₹ of Rs 74 cross Rs 150…”

She also questioned the Prime Minister’s claim that action is being taken against the corrupt and accused his government of using central agencies as his frontal to carry out political vendetta.

“You have done the work of leaving agencies like ED as your frontal because now they have become agents of political vendetta and not agencies. And why are cases closed against those who hold your hand by making them dive into their washing machines?” Shrinate asked.

On Modi’s “Echoes of women power and strength” remark, she mentioned the women wrestlers who accused BJP MP Brijbushan Sharan Singh of sexual assault during his tenure as Wrestling Federation of India chief.

“Our wrestler daughters are saying hello to you, Brij Bhushan Singh will be next to you? The women of the country are afraid of people like Kuldeep Sengar and Ramdular Gond. The daughters with whom the scoundrels of your party have committed heinous crimes in IIT BHU are not echoing the power and pleading for justice,” she wrote.

On Modi’s criticism of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, the Congress leader said, “It was Indira Gandhi who changed the geography of the world by dividing Pakistan into two and didn’t hesitate while taking China’s name.”

Defending Nehru, she further added, “For your information, when the meetings of the Constituent Assembly started and the Christmas holiday came, Nehru ji said that the holiday should be canceled so that the work of the Constitution could be taken forward. Sardar Patel also explained, but Shyama Prasad Mukherjee insisted on leave and refused to do the work of the Constitution. Those who are lazy are the ones who yearn for a holiday; this is laziness. You remember the saying of the Sangh – the three tasks of the Sanghis are food, meeting, and rest. For more information read the proceedings report of the Constituent Assembly.”