PM Modi, his govt only know how to manufacture jumlas: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “vocal for local” to make the country self-reliant was yet another ‘jumla’ (rhetoric) to divert the people’s attention from real issues.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal alleged that the prime minister and his government could only manufacture jumlas, statements and slogans, and asked how India can become self-reliant till it creates innovation and intellectual property in its universities.

“This is an act of self-deception. This is another ‘jumla’ that you sell to the people of the country,” he said, addressing a media briefing via video conference.

“We are only manufacturing ‘jumlas’, statements and slogans. That is the only thing we make in India, and we are masters at that under this government,” Sibal added.

He said the prime minister has given a call for “Atmanirbhar Abhiyaan”, but his government has failed to help make the poor, farmers, migrant workers, industry or states self-reliant.

“Similarly, his calls to industry to push ‘Made in India, Made for the World’, to expand globally, and not be dependent on another country in the strategic sector did not have a clear road map as to how this goal should be achieved,” said Sibal.

He said the Rs 20-lakh crore Atmanirbhar package does not lead to expansion of government expenditure, as it includes measures already announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and in the budget, and amounts to less than 1% of GDP, as against 10% claimed by the ruling party.

“The reality is that Modi’s Atmanirbhar idea is merely a slogan like innumerable others,” Sibal said, and sought private investment in universities to create innovation and ideas.

However, he was quick to add that this did not amount to privatisation.

Aman Sinha, a spokesperson for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), responded to the Congress’s trenchant criticism of the PM’s Atmanirbhar Bharat call to tide over the deepening economic crisis because of the pandemic.

“The Rs 20 lakh crore economic package provides numerous measures towards promoting and supporting home-grown enterprises such as all the tenders below Rs200 crore are exclusively earmarked for Indian companies. However, Congress spokespersons, like their leader Rahul Gandhi, have developed a habit of speaking without studying the finer points of the government’s policies,” he said.

“India has also risen above over 30 countries in the Global Innovation Index since the Congress party lost power in 2014,” he added.