Gandhi also accused the government of being 'cruel' to army veterans and said it is fearful of being asked questions.
New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday chaired the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC), as party president Sonia Gandhi skipped the meet citing poor health.
In his opening remarks, Rahul fired a salvo at Modi, claiming that the government was obsessed with power and seeks to silence all who disagree with it.
The Congress vice-president charged the government with intimidating civil society for asking questions, by ‘using the cloak of national security’.
“Asking questions is what discomforts this government, for they have no answers. We must expose government's failures in upcoming Parliament session,” Rahul Gandhi declared, further alleging that the government is abusing fundamental freedoms of the people.
“Democracy, under the present dispensation, is going through one of its darkest hours,” he stated.
“Television channels are being punished & asked to shut down. Opposition is being arrested for holding the government to account,” the Congress VP added.
Accusing the Modi government of ‘swinging from one extreme to another’ in dealing with Pakistan, Rahul also addressed the issue of One Rank One Pension (OROP).
“Our jawans are being cruelly rewarded by a callous government with denial of OROP and cut in disability pensions,” Rahul said.
Rahul claimed that the government will launch a 'polarisation campaign' ahead of the UP elections to divide the electorate.
A call is likely to be taken at the meeting on extending the deadline for the completion of the party's organisational elections which were to be completed by December 31st.
The meeting is expected to take stock of the current political situation and discuss its plans for assembly elections to other states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur in next year.
The meeting is significant as the Winter Session of Parliament is starting from 16th of this month and the Congress will finalise its strategy for the session.
There have been repeated suggestions that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi should take over reins of the party from his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the CWC is likely to take a call on that issue today as well.
However, many in the party are divided over Rahul's elevation and seek to defer the matter until the upcoming assembly polls.
(This story first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)
