Is Robert Vadra doing a better job than Rahul Gandhi in protesting over demonetisation?
Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra has attacked the Centre for lack of management after petrol pumps across the country threatened to stop accepting payments through credit or debit cards following imposition of 1 per cent surcharge by banks on card transactions.
"The government seems to have reached its levels of desperation to overcome the initial blunder it created, through the unplanned and unthought (sic) process of demonetisation," he said on Facebook.
Vadra, who has been relentlessly attacking the government ever since the decision to scrap old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 was announced on November 8, added that the government first offered sops to push people to use debit/credit cards. And when everybody actually started making more cashless payments, "now lack of coordination with banks and their policies is forcing petrol pump owners to adopt these drastic steps".
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| While Robert Vadra has been relentlessly attacking the government over demonetisation. (Credit: PTI) |
He may not be saying something that's unexpected but his comment, especially when his brother-in-law and Congress vice-president is "missing in action" owing to his new year trip abroad, shows that the Gandhi family son-in-law is more in touch with the everyday happenings in the common man's life.
Gandhi, after an impressive won't-budge-come-what-may performance against the Narendra Modi government over demonetisation, suddenly decided to disappear. As always, he chose the worst time — when his party needs him the most — to go on a vacation. But the Congress vice-president has earned a reputation for that. It has now become an annual quiz event when everybody is trying to come up with an answer to "where is Rahul Gandhi?".
Just as the Congress seems to be inching closer to forming an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh to cash in on the Muslim-Yadav equation, Gandhi is conspicuous with his absence. With Gandhi scheduled to return today (January 9), things have also come to a standstill in as many as 40 constituencies in Punjab as the state Congress is eagerly awaiting his return to declare the remaining 40 candidates.
What could be more damaging are the developments in Uttar Pradesh. Despite talks of alliance with SP, Congress said it was going ahead with preparations for fielding candidates in all 403 Assembly seats in the state. "We are in the process of selecting candidates for all the seats," UP PCC chief Raj Babbar said in Lucknow on Sunday (January 8).
While all eyes are on Gandhi, Vadra definitely managed to steal the Congress vice-president's thunder this time.