Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Rahul Gandhi have sharply criticized the Modi government over the recent downturn in Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) stocks, accusing the government of misleading the public and pursuing a privatization agenda at the expense of national assets.
Ramesh took to social media to highlight the fall in PSU stock values, which had previously been lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a sign of the government’s commitment to the public sector. “For quite some time, the PM has been highlighting how PSU stock values have been booming and saying this demonstrates his government’s deep commitment to the public sector. Well, now PSU share values have come crashing down,” Ramesh wrote.
He accused the government of misleading investors, who, according to Ramesh, have now realized that the PM’s claims were “largely bogus.” Ramesh further suggested that the eroded intrinsic values of PSUs, accumulated over the last decade, are now becoming apparent to the public.
In a broader critique, Ramesh alleged that the Modi government’s true agenda is to dismantle the public sector and privatize these entities, handing them over to a select few favored capitalists. “The Modi Govt has one agenda: to dismantle the public sector and hand over public sector companies to its favoured few,” Ramesh posted.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, reiterated his opposition to the government’s privatization policies. In December, Gandhi met with individuals associated with PSUs at the Parliament Complex and accused the government of intent on privatizing even profitable PSUs. He warned that national assets were being handed over to a “select group of capitalists.”
On Twitter, the Congress party shared a post emphasizing the ongoing struggle against the privatization agenda. “The country’s assets are being handed over to select capitalists. We have been raising our voices against this issue from the streets to the Parliament and will continue to do so,” the post read.
Priyanka Gandhi, another prominent Congress leader, was also present at the meeting, lending her support to the party’s stance on privatization.