The Congress on Tuesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Independence Day address, saying he celebrated his government's "Independence from Truth" and that the government resorted to "falsehoods and misrepresentations" in showcasing its achievements."Modi in his longest Independence Day speech of 9,367 words, spoke about pulses, solar energy and terrorism but he didn't utter a word about black money, which he used nine times in his Independence Day speech last year... He spoke about reforms to transform but failed to mention how his government misinforms," senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh told media persons here."Keeping in line with India's Independence Day celebrations, Prime Minister Modi also celebrated his government's independence from truth," he added.
"A report by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India has finally laid bare the falsehood and spin of the Modi government on the issue of LPG subsidy claims. This is but just one example of the Modi government's constant stream of falsehoods and misrepresentations," he added.Ramesh said that everyone in the government from the Chief Economic Advisor to the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister has publicly claimed that the government has saved enormous amounts in LPG subsidy from the introduction of Direct Benefits Transfer of LPG (DBTL), also called the "PAHAL" scheme."The CAG report submitted last week (August 12) has said that savings in LPG subsidy due to the government's PAHAL scheme was a mere Rs 1,764 crore, not the tens of thousands of crores that the Modi government has been claiming. In effect, the CAG report has said that the government just lied blatantly," he added.