New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the country on a “hum do hamare do” (we two, our two) principle, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi said in parliament today in one of his sharpest takedowns of the BJP-led government. This principle, he said, has been in play in demonetisation, Goods and Services tax, lockdown and most recently, the three farm laws passed in September that have had the farmers across the country up in arms.

“You all must remember the saying we used for family planning – ‘Hum do, hamare do‘. This government has given that slogan a new meaning. The country is run by four people. ‘Hum do, aur hamare do’,” he said.

Mr Gandhi did not name anyone, declaring instead “everyone knows them”.

The farmers’ protest, he said, is not all that it appears. It is struggle for survival for many others too. “You all feel that this is a farmers’ protest, but you all are very wrong. This is India’s protest… the farmers are just leading the way,” he said.

This is because the farm laws, he said, will not only ruin farmers, but finish the middlemen and have a “devastating effect” on small shopkeepers, small businessmen. It will be a “massive blow” to small and medium enterprises, which will “destroy” India’s rural economy.

“India will not be able to generate growth, generate jobs… all because the backbone of our nation will have been destroyed for the benefit of ‘Hum do, aur hamare do’,”Mr Gandhi added amid loud protests from the BJP members.