Senior Congress leader and former union minister Manish Tewari today said that the “Modi euphoria” has already started waning and fizzling out. He said, the economy was on a slide and nothing seemed to move. “You have a Prime Minister who briefly visits India”, he remarked in an informal conversation during the sidelines of a function here today. Referring to the economic slowdown, he pointed out the economic growth had come down to 5.3 per cent in the second quarter against 5.9 per cent in the first quarter. He was here to inaugurate a tube-well constructed Nr. Bus Stand, Ludhiana at a cost of Rs 15.5 lakhs which had been provided by Tewari from his MPLAD fund. Referring to the uncertainty about the 39 Indian hostages who are feared to be killed, Tewari said, this reflected total incompetence and the failure of the government of India. “About six months have passed and we do not have any idea about the plight of those people”, he said, while asking, this amounted to a colossal failure for the country which does not appear to be sensitive about the life of its 39 citizens. The former Information and Broadcasting Minister criticised the Punjab government for its failure to pay money to the farmers whose crop has been procured. “Earlier they had an excuse by falsely blaming the Congress led United Progressive Alliance government at the centre, let me ask them whom do they want to blame now?” he asked the Akali-BJP government in Punjab.
He said, the decline of the Akali-BJP government in the state had started and its days were numbered. “This government will fall under its own weight and because of the internal fighting between the alliance partners”, he observed, while adding, these are the first symptoms of decline. Tewari also visited the Jagdev Singh Jassowal, a prominent social figure at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital to inquire about his health. He said, he had family relations with Jassowal and prayed for his speedy recovery. On the occasions among others Pawan Dewan, Akshay Bhanot, Inderjit Tony Kapoor, Baljinder Singh Bunty, Satwinder Singh Jawaddi, Rakesh Sharma, Sunil Dutt, Palwinder Singh Taggar, G.S Mand were also present.