Hyderabad: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday that only his party can bring a non-BJP government in the country under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.
“If anybody can bring a non-BJP government in the country, it is the Congress party. We will bring it under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Congress. We have the strength,” he said while addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad along with Rahul Gandhi as part of Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The newly-elected President of Congress hit out at Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for weakening the Congress.
“You are weakening the party which is alive from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and ready to fight. If you are against BJP’s ideology, why did you support black laws on agriculture and triple talaq bill,” he asked the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader.
Kharge said that there is no difference between KCR and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “KCR around the country meeting leaders, embracing them and presenting them with shawls. He is going everywhere. Why? First put your own house in order,” he advised him.
Slamming the Modi government for not filling 13 lakh vacancies in government, he said instead of filling all these vacancies, Modi merely provided letters for 75,000 jobs.
“Before coming before coming to power, Modi had promised that every year will provide 2 crore jobs. Has he provided 16 crore jobs? He owes an answer.”
Alleging that Modi is uttering lies and misleading youth, he warned that if he continues to do this, youth will stand up as he pointed out that lakhs of youth have joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The Congress President also slammed the BJP over the bridge collapse in Gujarat that killed 145 people. He said Rs 2 crore was spent on renovation of the bridge and it collapsed in 5 days.
He also criticised the delay in announcing Gujarat Assembly elections schedule. “Election schedule for a state like Himachal Pradesh has been announced but not Gujarat because he has to inaugurate more bridges like the one that collapsed recently,” Kharge said.
He also ridiculed Modi for questioning what Congress has done in 70 years.
“Our work is before you. Had we not done anything in 70 years, you would have not become the Prime Minister,” he said and reminded Modi that he was enjoying the benefits of the Constitution and democracy. He recalled that it was Jawaharlal Nehru who laid the foundation for democracy and it was Dr B.R. Ambedkar who drafted the Constitution and Congress safeguarded it over the years.
Praising the idea of Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said the Modi government, the BJP and the RSS were together trying to divide the country and pit one section of people against the other on lines of language, caste, and religion.
Claiming that Congress delivered Telangana and fulfilled the ambition of people, he reminded KCR that he could form the government because of Telangana. He, however, alleged that KCR is working against the people of the same state, snatching lands, foisting false cases and suppressing them.
–IANS