Congress blames BJP's 'failure' for exodus in 'Acche Din'

In 2022, till October 31, the number of Indians who renounced citizenship stood at 1,83,741

The Congress on Tuesday said the number of people renouncing Indian citizenship has risen considerably during Narendra Modi's 'Amrit Kaal'—from a daily average of 354 in 2014 to 448 in 2021 and 604 in 2022—as it blamed the BJP government's "failure" in providing jobs and growth opportunities among others for the exodus.

Party spokesperson Prof Gourav Vallabh said people have realised that 'Ache Din' (good days) will come for Indians only abroad in the Modi regime and that is why they are leaving the country after renouncing their citizenship.

Using official data to buttress his point, Vallabh said a large number of people giving up citizenship were High Networth Individuals (HNI). In 2022, he claimed, around 7,000 such people who renounced citizenship last year had an annual income of more than Rs 8 crore.

In 2014, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) data showed 1,29,328 renounced Indian citizenship while in 2021, it was 1,63,370. In 2022, till October 31, such cases were 1,83,741.

Addressing a press conference, Vallabh said, "if our global ranking from hunger to happiness is falling and is consistently low, then this is bound to happen."

He said Modi had promised 'Ache Din' (Good Days) but it has now become clear that these are not for Indians. "You have noted that on an average over 600 people are giving up Indian citizenship in this 'Amrit Kaal'. Average number of Indians per day giving up their citizenship has grown by 1.7 times from 2014 to 2022."

Vallabh said rising unemployment, low GDP growth opportunities, rising poverty and hunger, widening gender disparity, and sliding press freedom were among the reasons for people renouncing citizenship.

He asked Modi to respond why more than 600 people renounce citizenship on a daily basis. "He has to answer why the number of Indians giving up Indian Citizenship in the last 8 years increased to 1.7 times? Why is Acche Din not coming to India for Indians? When will the Prime Minister do a Mann ki Baat on this?" he said.

He said the twin shocks of demonetisation and "flawed" GST led the growth on a downslide and it was aggravated with the pandemic.

He said poverty has been rising in the country and cited the report by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and University of Oxford which put the poor in India at 22.89 crore. He said India added the maximum of 79 per cent to the global "extreme poor" during the pandemic.