Congress writes to Speaker, flags ‘inaccurate and misleading’ claims by PM Modi and Anurag Thakur in Lok Sabha

Alleging the prime minister said in his speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the “Congress made a false promise of Rs 8,500 per month to women”, the Virudhunagar MP wrote, “It was a promise [to be fulfilled] on victory and government formation.”

The Congress also contested Modi’s statement that the “Congress vote share has gone down in 16 states which it contested alone”. The party said, “This is factually incorrect. Congress vote share increased in HP, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana etc.”

The Opposition party termed as “grossly misleading” the prime minister’s statement that “no bullet proof jackets [were provided] for the Army during the Congress’s time”. “There was a shortage of jackets, not that jackets were not there. Even police had bullet proof jackets like in Mumbai attacks,” the letter read.

According to the party, the prime minister also said the “Congress didn’t give fighter jets to the Army”. “This is misleading. Congress time had Mig 29, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 and Sukhoi SU 30,” the party added.

Pointing out alleged inaccuracies in Thakur’s July 1 speech in the Lok Sabha, the Congress said the Hamirpur MP claimed that the Army was not given arms and fighter jets when the party ruled the country. “We had Jaguar, Mig 29, SU- 30, Mirage 2000,” the party said. “We had nuclear bombs, missiles like Agni, Prithvi, Aakash, Nag, Trishul and later Brahmos.”

The Congress further said there was a “factual inaccuracy” in Thakur’s claim that “25 crore people were brought out of poverty”. The Congress also contested his claim that the “PM has not taken a single holiday” asking, “Which category of leave is taken for election campaigns?”