Puri slams Kharge for alleged shoot and scoot using 'lies, fake data'

New Delhi, Nov 2 (PTI) Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday took on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for "delusional opinions", saying the opposition party was using "lies, fabricated figures and fake data" in its classic shoot and scoot policy.

In a series of post on X, Puri quoted data to counter Kharge's assertions saying the Modi government's inclusive development policies will make the country a developed nation by 2047.

"Congress Party and Mr Kharge seem to be oblivious of the changes that have transformed the lives of Indians for the better," he said.

The Modi government has pulled more than 24 crore Indians out of multidimensional poverty. This was aided by construction of more than 11 crore toilets, 12 crore tap water connections, over 10 crore free cooking gas connections, healthcare, bank accounts for 51 crore, three times hike in capital expenditure, and policy reforms such as GST, startup India, IBC and PLI scheme.

"We ensured the price of petrol and diesel did not rise even when the international benchmark went up by 40-70% compared to Congress-led UPA-II government when because of their folly of floating oil bonds worth Rs 1.41 lakh crores, the country is being forced to pay back Rs 3.2 lakh crores in return," he said.

India is demonstrating that it will achieve its development goals by 2047, he said. "Look this way Mr Kharge. These are the hard facts." Kharge had in a post on X on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "Lies, Deceit, Fakery, Loot & Publicity are the 5 adjectives which best describe your Govt!" He had questioned Modi on promise of 2 crore jobs per year, inflation, demonetisation and flawed-GST, now scrapped electoral bonds, charges against SEBI chief, crime against SC/ST and India's poor ranking on global hunger index.

Ignoring most of the points that Kharge raised. Puri took on the Congress president on India's ranking on the global hunger index.

"Congress should stop looking towards foreign shores and believing in motivated indices being propagated," he said.

Stating that the hunger index is deeply flawed, Puri said an index which ranks India, a country which is distributing dry rations to its more than 81 crore people, at 105 (2024), while a country like Pakistan torn by internal strife at 109, cannot be believed.

Total FDI inflows from 2014-24 stand at USD 700 billion compared to just USD 304 billion between 2004-2014. "Does this appear to be signs of a country whose people are hungry and not looked after?," he asked.

On border issue, he said, " Mr Kharge who was last seen peeping into the room where the ruling trio sat in comfort must know that UPA was totally lax in controlling ambushes and intrusions across our borders." On Kharge's charge of allowing scam accused to flee, Puri said he suffers from selective amnesia and has forgotten that "the original sin of the Nirav Modi episode happened in 2011." "During UPA regime, Adani group was granted loans of Rs 72,000 crore. Under UPA regime, Ambani group received loans worth Rs 1,13,000 crore.

"Despite non-payment of loans worth Rs 1,457 crore in 2012, Vijay Mallya's group was given further loans of Rs 1,500 crore," he said.

Driven by the motto of ‘Na Khaunga Na Khaane Dunga’ it is Modi government which began recovering people’s money, Rs 13,109 crore has been received out of Rs 22,500 crore from the sale of assets belonging to fugitive economic offenders Mallya, Modi, and Choksi, he said.

"Congress Party’s classic shoot & scoot brand of social media policy based on lies, fabricated figures & fake data is back in action. Even their senior most leaders do not check facts before going public with their delusional opinions," he added.

Under Modi, India has witnessed significant employment growth over the years. Employment has increased by nearly 36 per cent, adding around 170 million jobs between 2016-17 and 2022-23, he said.

"While Mr Kharge sees ‘stampedes’, he seems unaware that the Worker Population Ratio has increased by almost 26% between 2017-2023. He is clearly looking at all the wrong places & getting fake data, or maybe is just too preoccupied with trying to hold his imploding party together and buys whatever lies his advisors sell to him; or he is just too fixated with the ‘unemployment’ of his party’s travelling Shehzada," Puri said.

He asked the Congress president to "stop spreading canards on prices of goods and commodities." India’s inflation rate, he said, was 1.4 percentage points below the global average in 2023. Core services inflation is at a 9-year low in FY24. RBI expects 4.5 per cent headline inflation in FY25 & 4.1 per cent in FY26.

"I would once again request Mr Kharge to stop looking at the family scion as a benchmark of unemployment & his own party’s coffers as an indicator of declining savings of average Indians," he added. PTI