‘PM’s Grand Rs 20 Lakh Crore Package a Cruel Joke,’ Sonia Gandhi Attacks Centre at Mega Opposition Meet

Gandhi alleged that the government has a "misplaced" optimism and uncertainty with regards to the criteria for lockdowns, "nor does it have an exit strategy".

New Delhi: At the grand Opposition meeting on Friday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the government on Friday over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged that the government has forgotten the “spirit of federalism”, abandoning “any pretence of being democratic”.

“The spirit of federalism all but forgotten; no indication either if Parliament or standing committees will be summoned to meet,” Sonia Gandhi said addressing the meeting through video conference.

“The government has abandoned any pretence of being democratic; all power is now concentrated in PMO. No pretence of consultation with stakeholders or debate in Parliament; we deplore these unilateral moves of government,” she said.

Speaking to opposition parties across the country, the Congress supremo convened to discuss the plight of migrants due to the lockdown. Gandhi alleged that the government has a “misplaced” optimism and uncertainty with regards to the criteria for lockdowns, “nor does it have an exit strategy”.

She said the migrants and 13 crore families in the bottom half of the population, many of whom have been laid off, have been cruelly ignored by the government.

“That the present government has no solutions is worrying, but that it has no empathy or compassion for the poor and vulnerable is heartbreaking… The Prime Minister’s grand Rs 20 lakh crore package has turned out to be a cruel joke on the country,” she said.

Notably, while Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and many others took active participation in the meeting, three prominent absentees included Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav as well as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

While their ideologies are in line with the Congress, speculations were that all three party leaders had issues with the grand old party’s dealing and politicising of the migrant crisis due to lockdown.