Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government saying "vendetta politics" was at its "peak" now, institutions were being subverted, mandate was being misused "in most dangerous fashion", voices of dissent were being silenced and "democracy has never been at greater peril than it is now".
Addressing a meeting of party general secretaries, state Congress chiefs and legislative party leaders, she also targeted the ruling alliance over its handling of the economy and said there is a prolonged economic slump and the government appears to be "clueless and insensitive".
"We are meeting at a time when there is a prolonged economic slump, when job losses are mounting by the day, when the confidence of investors is getting shakier by the day, when the government appears more and more clueless and insensitive by the day. Dr Manmohan Singhji has recently issued an authoritative statement on the economy. I am sure all of you have read it," she said.
Gandhi accused the government of threatening those who spoke against it.
"We are also meeting at a time when vendetta politics is at its peak and when those who speak out against the ruling establishment are being threatened and intimidated. Each and every institution is being diabolically subverted. The voices of dissent are being silenced. Democracy has never been at greater peril than it is now. As I said a few weeks back, the mandate of 2019 is now being misused and abused in a most dangerous fashion," she said.
Her remarks came in the backdrop of CBI arresting party leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the INX media case. The party had accused the government of political vendetta over his arrest. Congress has been accusing the BJP-led government of using investigative agencies to target political rivals.
Without naming the BJP, Gandhi accused it of seeking to appropriate legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and BR Ambedkar and "misrepresent their true message for their nefarious ends". She said people were looking at the Congress to confront and combat these forces.