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Informist, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025

NEW DELHI – Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said Monday he liked the idea of "Make in India" but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had failed to implement it successfully. "The prime minister proposed 'Make in India'. I think it was a good idea," Gandhi said. "The result is right in front of you, manufacturing has fallen to 12.6% today from 15.3% of GDP in 2014, which is the lowest share of manufacturing in 60 years. I could say that the Prime Minister tried, but he failed," Gandhi said in the Lower House of Parliament during the discussion on the motion of thanks for the president's address.

He expressed concern that India may lose the manufacturing race to China again. "Our chief of army staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory. This is a fact. The reason China is sitting inside this country is that Make in India has failed. The reason China is sitting inside this country is that India is refusing to produce, and I'm worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again," Gandhi said.

"If and when we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese electric motors, Chinese batteries, and Chinese optics," he said.

Underlining the significance of the manufacturing sector, Gandhi said India has failed to organise production. "Any country basically organises two things. You can organise consumption, and you can organise production. Essentially, what we have done is we have handed over the organisation of production to the Chinese."

Holding up a mobile phone, he continued, "Even though we say we make this mobile phone in India, it's not the fact. This phone is not made in India. This phone is assembled in India. All the components of this phone are made in China... we are paying a tax to China."

Gandhi pointed out that China has a 10-year lead over India in the manufacture of batteries, robots, motors, and optics. He asserted that artificial intelligence is meaningless without data and apprised the House of China's supremacy in this arena. He emphasised the need for an "open, dynamic, and accessible banking system" to build a production system in the country.

During his address, Gandhi reiterated the Congress party's allegations of malpractice in the Maharashtra assembly election. He alleged that between the Lok Sabha election and the assembly election, a voting population equivalent to that of Himachal Pradesh was added to the voter rolls of Maharashtra.

"Nearly seven million new voters suddenly arrived between the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha elections," he said. "We asked the Election Commission of India to give us the details of the new voters, including names, addresses, and polling booths, to assess who they are. Interestingly, the new voters are mostly in the constituencies that the Bharatiya Janata Party has won."

Raising the issue of unemployment, he said, "A universal problem we have faced is our inability to tackle the problem of unemployment. Neither the Congress-led (United Progressive Alliance) government nor today's BJP-led (National Democratic Alliance) government has given a clear-cut answer to the youth of this country about employment."

The Budget session of Parliament commenced Friday with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to a joint sitting of both Houses. The discussion on the motion of thanks commenced Monday in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The prime minister will reply to the motion Tuesday.

Earlier, Opposition members protested in both Houses over the stampede at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. According to the Uttar Pradesh government, at least 30 people were killed in the stampede and several others sustained injuries. Opposition members have been demanding a discussion on the stampede and asking the government to reveal the exact number of deaths.  End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Nishant Maher

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