On the discussion over President’s address in Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the BJP government has just been renaming all schemes started by the UPA government.

“This is why I want to say that this government is not a game-changer, but only a name-changer. Central Government schemes are just for show, because they haven’t been implemented on the ground, whether it is Start-up India or Skill India. The situation in Kashmir is worse. This was not the case during the Manmohan Singh government,” Azad, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said.

He noted that the UPA government’s Jan Aushadhi Scheme had been renamed as the Prime Minister's Jan Aushadhi Scheme, while the National Child Programme had been renamed the Beti Bachaao Programme.

Azad also took on the government on the issue of triple talaq. “You divided Shia and Sunni and now you are doing the same with husband and wife. By putting up husband in jail, you are saying you are protecting the wife. We are united against triple talaq but we are against criminalisation of it,” the leader from Jammu and Kashmir said.

Referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader said that there was a record number of ceasefire violations and soldier deaths during this government’s tenure. He further added that opposition was with the government on the issue of Kashmir but for the first time in 70 years, the situation in Kashmir had gotten so bad.

“When the UPA government was in power, 24.03 crore bank accounts were opened, but since the BJP came to power, only seven crore accounts have been opened,” Azad said.

“In politics, there is a need for at least some honesty. Nobody knows repackaging better than the BJP government," Azad added.

While referring to the ‘Beti Bacchao Beti Padhaao’ scheme, Azad noted that the budget allocated for it should have been raised by Rs 800 crore, instead of the Rs 80 crore hike sanctioned by the Modi government.

Azad also criticised the Centre’s insensitivity against the rise in violence and rape against women. He questioned the government as to what steps it was taking to stem crime against the girl child.

“The UPA government was sensitive enough to bring a strict law in place in the wake of the Nirbhaya case. The current BJP government was not doing the same,” he said.

The MP further attacked the government over its inability to fulfil its electoral pledges of providing Rs 15 lakh to every citizen and its inability to create 10 lakh jobs a year.

Azad also raised the issue of daily revision of petrol and diesel prices. He noted, “In 2014, you had promised that the farmer’s income will rise, and prices of petrol, diesel and LPG would go down. Gas cylinders that used to cost Rs 300 earlier now cost Rs 800.”

(Translated into English by Zaheeb Ajmal).