Congress to hold press conferences across country on govt’s asset monetisation

New Delhi, Aug 29 (Agency) As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continues his attack against the government on the asset monetisation plan, the Congress will hold a series of press conferences to take the message to people, party sources said. According party sources, over 20 press conferences are planned across the country including in several state capitals between Aug 31 and Sep 4 to talk about the sale of national assets by the Narendra Modi government. Among the leaders who will hold press conferences is Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who will address the media in Hyderabad on Sep 1. Former finance minister P. Chidambaram is likely to address a press conference in Mumbai. Shashi Tharoor will address a press conference in Srinagar on Sep 3. Sachin Pilot will address one in Bangalore on Sep 1.

Apart from these leaders, Salman Khurshid, Mukul Wasnik, Milind Deora, and several other party leaders will be talking on the topic. The cities where the press conferences are planned to be held include Guwahati (Assam), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Patna (Bihar), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), along with other places. Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have been attacking the government over the National Monetisation Pipeline announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “The nation is talking about friend-monopoly”. The former Congress leader in a press conference on August 24 said the assets would be sold to few industrialists close to the government, which may lead to creation of monopolie and loss of jobs. “The whole idea is to create a monopoly of 3-4 businessmen. Young people in India will not be able to find jobs in future. This will ensure our entire industrial structure will be controlled by 3-4 people,” Rahul Gandhi had said. Upto 25 airports, 40 railway stations, and 15 railway stadiums, among other installations, have been identified to get private investments in the Rs. 6 lakh crore monetisation plan announced by the Finance Minister.