G20 Summit: ‘Centre is hiding our poor people and animals, no need to hide India’s reality,' says Rahul Gandhi

The Congress party has been attacking the Narendra Modi-led government on several aspects of the G20 Summit.  Senior Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is on a Europe visit,  said that the Centre is trying to hide the poor people of India from the G20 guests and delegates.

“The Government of India is hiding our poor people and animals. There is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests,” Gandhi, who is currently on a tour to Europe, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

 

The Congress shared a video on X showing some slum areas in Delhi's Vasant Kunj are being covered with green sheets ahead of the two-day summit. “The government considers us insects. Are we not humans,” said a slum resident, whose video the Congress shared.

 

 

On Friday, it was reported that the Delhi Police had sought the help of civic agencies to curb the menace of monkeys and dogs in and around central Delhi's Rajghat. The G20 delegates are scheduled to visit the Mahatma Gandhi memorial on Sunday.

The Congress alleged that the canines were picked up in a cruel manner ahead of the G20 Summit.

“Watch this video to witness the shocking cruelty inflicted upon innocent street dogs by the Modi government in preparation for the G20 summit. Dogs are being dragged by their necks, beaten with sticks and thrown into cages. They are being denied food and water, and they are being subjected to extreme stress and fear,” it said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also attacked the prime minister over the matter.

"G20 is intended to be a productive gathering of the major world economies, aimed at dealing with global problems in a cooperative manner. President Putin may have stayed away, but Prince Potemkin has been in full display with slums being either covered up or demolished, rendering thousands homeless. Stray animals have been cruelly rounded up and mistreated, only to burnish the PM's image," Ramesh said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Saturday refuted the allegations made by Congress that stray dogs were picked up in a cruel manner in view of the G20 Summit, and termed it “misinformation”.

“It’s high time to say NO TO MISINFORMATION. The video shared here is short on credibility and authenticity. MCD assure one and all that the dogs are picked up on ‘urgent need’ basis and are kept in proper care with medical and other facilities. No cruelty or harm was caused,” the civic body said from its official handle on X.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, slammed the Cente for not inviting the Opposition to the G20 gala dinner.

Several Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi reacted after Kharge was not invited to the dinner. Gandhi said it showed that the government did not respect the leader of the 60% of India.

On Saturday, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said this can happen only in countries where there is no democracy or no opposition.

He also said he hopes India, that is Bharat, has not reached a stage where democracy and the Opposition will cease to exist.

 

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