New Delhi: As the BJP marked 12 years of the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, the Congress launched a campaign titled ‘12 Years of Modi’s Mismanagement’, accusing the prime minister of pursuing anti-poor economic policies, favouring large corporations and attempting to rewrite history.
The party also targeted the government over healthcare failures, paper leak scandals, welfare policies affecting women and what it described as the promotion of unscientific ideas in educational institutions.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi described the Modi government’s tenure as “12 years of anti-poor economic policies and a compromised foreign policy”, questioning why ordinary citizens were being made to bear the burden of what he termed the government’s failures.
“Mr. Modi, will only the poor bear the burden of your failures? Will only the workers, farmers, women, and middle class pay the price for this crumbling economy you’ve built?” Gandhi wrote on X.
12 वर्षों की गरीब-विरोधी आर्थिक नीतियों और compromised विदेश नीति ने आज देश को ऐसे हालात में ला खड़ा कर दिया है जहाँ लाखों गरीब परिवारों और महिलाओं को लकड़ी के ज़हरीले धुएं की तरफ धकेल दिया गया है।
उज्ज्वला योजना में सब्सिडी वाले सिलेंडरों की संख्या 9 से घटाकर 4 कर दिया गया।…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 9, 2026
He alleged that anti-poor economic policies had forced millions of poor families and women back to using firewood stoves. Gandhi also claimed that the number of subsidised LPG cylinders available under the Ujjwala scheme had been reduced from nine to four, while domestic LPG cylinder prices had increased by Rs 89 over the past three months.
Accusing the government of favouring large corporations, Gandhi said, “Arranging debt waivers worth millions of crores for billionaire friends and passing the bill of your failures onto the poor — this is Modi’s loot model.”
‘Big claims, broken economic promises’
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah also said the BJP’s celebration of Prime Minister Modi completing 12 years in office was an insult to democracy, alleging that the Modi government had weakened democratic institutions and constitutional values to remain in power.
He took to X to say that the government’s claims of achievement stood in sharp contrast to the state of democratic institutions in the country, and suggested that the BJP’s self-congratulatory narrative amounted to little more than wishful thinking.
The Congress shared a Ghalib quote alongside an image of Jawaharlal Nehru, “Dil behlane ko Ghalib ye khayal achha hai”.
The party also released another poster with the caption, “Big Claims, Broken Economic Promises”, portraying what it described as a gap between the Modi government’s publicity and its actual economic performance over the past 12 years.
The party said claims of economic success should be assessed against indicators such as the rupee’s performance, household debt levels and India’s broader economic standing.
Several Congress leaders also challenged BJP leaders’ description of Narendra Modi as India’s longest-serving prime minister.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru remains India’s longest-serving prime minister and that the BJP’s claim rests on a technicality.
“The BJP’s latest propaganda exercise deserves a reality check,” Singhvi wrote on X. “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of India. The BJP’s claim rests on a technicality of counting only from 26 January 1950 and then conveniently using the phrase ‘longest-serving elected’.”
The BJP’s latest propaganda exercise deserves a reality check.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of India. The BJP’s claim rests on a technicality of counting only from 26 January 1950 and then conveniently using the phrase “longest serving…
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) June 10, 2026
Singhvi argued that India’s journey as an independent nation began on 15 August 1947, and accused the BJP of attempting to manufacture records through “semantic jugglery and headline management”.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh echoed the criticism, alleging that the BJP was attempting to diminish the contributions of leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Dr Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad by focusing solely on Prime Minister Modi’s milestone.
Ramesh also noted that the BJP did not secure a simple majority on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and contrasted Modi’s record with that of Nehru, who led the Congress to decisive victories in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 general elections.
The Congress criticism came in response to BJP leaders celebrating 12 years of the Modi government and highlighting achievements over its 4,399 days in office, including the abrogation of Article 370, the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the rise of UPI as the world’s largest real-time payments system, the implementation of GST and the introduction of Vande Bharat trains.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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