Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to nation on Tuesday, the Opposition urged him to focus on addressing the core issues that plague our country. They demanded decisive steps, not empty words, to deal with both Covid-19 and China.

Congress said that the country had great expectations from the Prime Minister but he once again belied them. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “We had hoped that the Prime Minister will talk about substantive measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. We were hoping he was going to speak about the economic ruin and a blueprint to resolve it.”

She added, “We were hoping that he would speak about the 14 crore jobs lost and take a decisive step to create more jobs. We hoped he would talk about the wage cuts and talk about the restoration of salaries. We hoped he would talk about the 10 crore labourers who are now in the villages. We had really hoped that he would set aside his ego listen to the Congress and announce a ₹7,500 per month direct cash transfer to address the misery of our people. But most of all we had hoped that he would look at China in the eye and gather the courage for some tough talk.”

She said the address was much ado about nothing. “Despite all the euphoria and the massive build up, in his 17-minute long speech Modi, what at best is an administrative decision,” she said.

CPI(M) General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury, said: “Bowing to people’s protests Modi government has extended the provision of five kg grains free for 80 crore people for next five months. This falls far short of the required 10 kg per month for six months to all needy to prevent hunger deaths.”

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