Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi government for failing on all fronts, All India Congress Committee secretary Sanjay Dutt on Wednesday said the party is contesting bypolls in Himachal Pradesh on issues concerning the general public.

Addressing media in Shimla, Dutt said the BJP government had failed to control rising inflation which had made it hard for the common man to make both ends meet.

“The bypolls in the state will be a mandate on four years rule of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur government in Himachal and it is due to this reason that the significance of the present elections has increased many times,” he added.

He accused the BJP leaders of using unparliamentary words for Congress leaders and said now, sensing defeat, the ruling BJP was using money power, liquor and misusing government machinery to win elections.

He stated that unemployment had increased by 8 per cent in the country with over 50 lakh persons losing jobs in Covid pandemic while the Modi government had failed to control price rise, making the general public’s life much worse.

“What is more astonishing is that the BJP leaders were trying to justify the rising inflation by terming it as an expense on administering Covid vaccine to the people of the country. This proves that the claim of the Centre government of providing free vaccines to all is wrong as the cost of vaccination is being recovered from the people,” he said while questioning the Modi government for taking credit for the entire vaccination drive.

He also raised questions on the Centre government’s ‘Aatama Nirbhar’ campaign and stated that India’s imports from China had increased from 56.31 billion dollars in 2019 to 68.46 billion dollars in 2021.

In addition, China was intruding into the Indian side time and again and had even built military infrastructure including air bases alongside the border with the country.

Besides, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was worsening day by day where a repeat of the old situation in Kashmir valley was taking place and civilians and soldiers were being killed by militants almost every day despite tall claims of the Modi government to avenge killings in the state assertively.