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The Congress party has leveled accusations against the Modi government, asserting that it has prioritised the interests of wealthy industrialists at the expense of farmers and the economically disadvantaged. 

 

The focal point of their criticism lies in the recent upgrades observed at Jamnagar airport, purportedly financed by taxpayer funds, which the Congress alleges were aimed solely at accommodating guests of a prominent industrialist.

 

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh underscored the sensitivity of Jamnagar airport's proximity to the Pakistan border, stressing its strategic significance in defense matters. 

 

He lamented what he perceived as a stark contrast in governmental treatment, wherein the affluent receive preferential treatment while the plight of the impoverished remains unaddressed. 

 

Ramesh cited instances of housing demolitions among the underprivileged and the use of force against farmers advocating for fair minimum support prices for their agricultural yields.

"When it comes to helping out his rich industrialist friends, Prime Minister Modi is willing to do anything," he alleged, claiming that he "has declared the Jamnagar airport an international airport for 10 days".

"He has ordered the doubling of the size of the passenger terminal - with taxpayers' money - just to make life more convenient for the wedding guests.

The Jamnagar airport is close to the Pakistan border, and is sensitive to defence concerns - but the private jets of the wedding guests have even been allowed to use the Indian Air Force 'technical area'," Ramesh alleged in a post on X.

 

जब पूंजीपति मित्रों को मदद करने की बात आती है तो प्रधानमंत्री मोदी कुछ भी करने को तैयार हो जाते हैं। अरबपति मुकेश अंबानी के बेटे की शादी के लिए उन्होंने जामनगर हवाई अड्डे को 10 दिनों के लिए अंतरराष्ट्रीय हवाई अड्डा घोषित कर दिया है। शादी में आने वाले मेहमानों को कोई असुविधा न हो… https://t.co/q3eqJCEIhz

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 2, 2024

"Of course, this is not a new development. The Prime Minister has spent his whole career in politics helping out his billionaire friends," the Congress leader alleged citing examples in this regard.

He alleged that the government ensured that six out of six airports being privatised went to Adani, allowed two companies to take over 90 per cent of India's airline market and wrote off Rs 14.5 lakh crore of bad loans by corporates.

"Meanwhile, India's poor get their homes demolished under the 'bulldozer raj' and farmers have to face bullets for demanding adequate MSP for their crops," Ramesh alleged.

He said India's rail passengers, overwhelmingly poor and middle class, "face 10 per cent annual ticket price hikes, see their sleeper seats removed to make way for AC 1st class seats, and have Rs 3,700 crore in senior concessions snatched away from them".

 

"The priorities are clear: 'Suit-boot-loot-jhoot'," he alleged, using the hashtag "#GareebParVaarPoonjipatiSarkar".

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani's son is getting married in Jamnagar and several guests from abroad are landing there.