Congress leaders on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not implementing schemes announced by him in his Independence Day speeches.

Rajya Sabha MP and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that the country had been listening to same speeches from the prime minister for seven years, PTI reported.

“He announces new schemes but these are never implemented or seen on the ground...He says a lot of things but never adheres to them,” Kharge told reporters on Sunday. “And now, by bringing the three new farm laws, he has spelled doom for the farmers.”

The senior Congress leader also countered Modi’s statement that small farmers were not paid attention in agriculture policies implemented by the previous governments. In his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort, Modi claimed that his government was introducing farm reforms and programmes with focus on small farmers.

Kharge, however, said that the country will not progress by criticising the Congress, PTI reported.

“The Congress has done a lot of work for this country during its regime like providing irrigation systems for the farmers,” he claimed. “[Former Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh ji and [Congress President] Sonia Gandhi ji waived farmers’ debt when the United Progressive Alliance was in power.”

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala took a swipe at Modi for announcing Rs 100 lakh crore investment in the infrastructure sector under the Gati Shakti Project. He posted a video showing the prime minister making a similar announcement in his 2019 Independence Day speech.

“Truly said – What’s there in making empty promises,” he tweeted. “But now even his empty promises are old ones.”