While addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia had alleged that “opaqueness” of the government’s decision-making process and “brazen promotion of cronyism” has cast a “dark shadow” on its integrity. Congress president Sonia Gandhi delivered a scathing critique of the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of “destabilising institutions and polarising society” and “trampling upon the Constitution”.

Regarding the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress chief said that recent events in the Valley are tragic and pose a grave challenge to the country. She said, “Yet we must ask ourselves what has driven scores of young people to such levels of anger and protest and even violence.”

“Can we say in all honesty that we have responded with sincerity to their pleas? They are our people, we cannot forsake them,” Sonia said. “Manmohan Singh’s government had done a tremendous amount of good work, along with (making) a serious effort to open and sustain a dialogue. Sadly, that is no longer the case. We must respond with restraint and sensitivity to the harsh realities of recent months.”

Regarding the developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Sonia said, “The Modi government’s project of destabilising institutions and polarising our society has played with renewed vigour to the detriment of Constitutional values. The Modi government has mistaken its Parliamentary majority for a licence to impose its narrow ideology on our people.”

“The government,” she said, “seems to have forgotten that Parliamentary majority can never be a reason to abandon the principles and practice of constitutionalism.”

She said, “We are presented with a government that is anchored in slick marketing events, in glib marketing slogans, in repackaging, in embellishment and exaggeration, (But) deception is not new to this ruling party. They are skilled at ignoring facts, at propagating false claims and orchestrating unsubstantiated charges against the opposition, especially the Congress.”

By Premji