Amid the ongoing G20 Summit held in the national capital, the Congress on Saturday accused the Union government of covering up or demolishing slums and rounding up stray animals with its leader Rahul Gandhi saying that there was “no need to hide India’s reality from our guests”.
“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 three-day tour to Europe, Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Congress party shared a video on X, which showed some slum areas being covered with green sheets ahead of the two-day summit, which began at the Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the Summit in New Delhi on Saturday and is being attended by leaders of the largest economies of the world.
“The government considers us insects. Are we not humans,” said a slum resident, whose video the Congress shared.
It also put a post saying “PM Modi dislikes poor people”.
Congress general secretary, communications in-charge, Jairam Ramesh attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 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.
On Friday, the Congress shared a video on X, in which it was seen that stray dogs were being pulled by the neck with the help of leashes, and 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.
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.