Mumbai, May 26 (PTI) The Maharashtra Congress on Thursday said the common citizen has been hit hard in the last eight years of the Narendra Modi government, a period which it said has seen a rise in inflation and a very high rate of unemployment, and claimed the country has moved "back by 50 years" under the current dispensation at the Centre.In a scathing attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, which completed eight years in office on May 26, state Congress president Nana Patole alleged that administrative machinery has been used to silence opposition leaders, while faulty policies have led to an increase in poverty in the country.Religious issues related to temples and mosques are being raked up to sidestep urgent matters and attempts are being made to create a rift in the society and cause communal divide as was done during the British rule, he said."In the last eight years, the country has gone back by 50 years...this is the achievement of the Modi government. There is no place for democracy and the Constitution under the Modi government," Patole told reporters here.The BJP-led NDA government"s performance since 2014 has been poor on all fronts, said the Congress leader, whose party is a constituent of the ruling MVA alliance in Maharashtra."Inflation has skyrocketed, because of which the lives of the common man has been seriously impacted, unemployment rate is the highest in 45 years. With the rupee falling sharply, the economy is crumbling, " Patole said.The MPCC president alleged the very foundation of the Narendra Modi government was based on "lies".The BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014 by making a host of promises, but none of which has been fulfilled yet, Patole claimed.They had promised to control inflation, but in reality prices of essential commodities have doubled, he said."Cooking gas cylinder used to cost Rs 450, but today it costs more than Rs 1,000. Petrol was Rs 65 per litre, but today it is Rs 110 a litre," the Congress MLA said. The promise of creating two crore jobs every year remains just on paper and although government posts are vacant, they are not being filled, he said."Over 72,000 posts in the Railways have been abolished. While 1.25 crore women have lost their jobs, the number of such men is about 4 crore," Patole claimed.He said "wrong policies" of the Modi government have stifled foreign investment and companies that had invested in India have gone "bankrupt".The 2016 demonetization exercise and "faulty" implementation of the GST regime in 2017 destroyed small and medium traders, the Congress leader said.During the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people died due to lack of proper medical facilities and while citizens were facing a terrible health crisis of, instead of helping them, the Modi government was appealing to them to bang utensils and light lamps, he said.The world witnessed corpses floating in the Ganga river last year during the second wave of the pandemic, but the Modi government did not see them, the Congress leader said.Since 2014, the Modi government has not set up a single major project to create new jobs, while the profitable public sector companies created by the Congress government over the last several years have been handed over to a handful of industrialists, he claimed.Because of "anti-poor" policies of the central government, 24 crore people in the country have joined the BPL category, Patole said. According to the Modi government"s own statistics, 80 crore people are being provided free foodgrains, which is not something to be proud of as this figure indicates that more people have slipped below the poverty line, the Congress leader said. PTI MR RSY RSY