Kharge said Singh used to work without boasting about it whereas BJP makes a loud noise after every small achievement. During the Manmohan Singh government, farm debt of Rs 72,000 crore was given, he said…reports Asian Lite News
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dismissed BJP’s ‘400 paar’ claim as “bakwas”, or nonsense, and said the party will not cross 200 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing the media in Amritsar, Kharge said BJP’s seats were declining as compared to the last elections while the Congress and the INDIA bloc were making gains.
The BJP-led NDA has been claiming that it will get over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Replying to a question on it, Kharge asked the basis of such claims by BJP.
“When your (seats) are declining and ours are increasing. Forget ‘400 paar’, it is ‘bakwas’. They cannot even form the government and will not go beyond 200 seats,” Kharge said.
He said BJP was “non-existent” in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana and “not strong” in Karnataka.
“You are weak in Maharashtra, while in West Bengal and Odisha, there is a fight. How are you getting 400 seats?” he asked.
Responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s jibe that Kharge “will lose his job” after Congress’ defeat in the elections, Kharge said, “I joined politics not for doing a job. I have been in politics to serve (people) since childhood, almost for as many years now as (PM Narendra) Modi’s age.”
Shah should think about his own job after June 4, Kharge added. Kharge said the drug problem in Punjab is the biggest challenge for the future of Punjab, and added that the youth of the state is frustrated.
“Because of this, the law and order situation is deteriorating day by day. After selling land, farmers are sending their children abroad, so that they do not fall prey to drugs. Each one is forced to migrate as employment opportunities are not available,” the Congress president said.
Notably, there is AAP government in Punjab. The Congress and AAP, which are the constituents of the INDIA bloc, are fighting the Lok Sabha polls separately in Punjab.
Attacking the PM and BJP over their claims, Kharge said, “Modi ji talks too much and works less.” “BJP ka sau bakna, Manmohan Singh ka ek karna barabar hai (BJP’s 100 claims equals former PM Manmohan Singh’s one claim),” Kharge said.
Kharge said Singh used to work without boasting about it whereas BJP makes a loud noise after every small achievement. During the Manmohan Singh government, farm debt of Rs 72,000 crore was given, he said.
Kharge said the Centre transferred 26 officers on Monday while Model Code of Conduct was in place and pointed to the secretary-level reshuffle by the Centre in which five new appointments were made.
On the other hand, the Congress government in Karnataka has not even announced promotions of some engineers, he said.
Attacking the BJP government further, Kharge accused it of misusing the central agencies. “Modi and Shah have such weapons which they use to harass people. Be it ED, Income Tax, CVC or CBI, they have different types of weapons which they are misusing,” Kharge said.
The Congress chief also reiterated the party’s promises for the Lok Sabha elections on farm debt waiver and the legal guarantee on minimum support price of crops, even as he attacked the BJP-led central government over the unemployment issue and the Agnipath scheme.
There were 30 lakh vacancies in the central government, all of which will be filled up if the INDIA bloc forms the government, he said. On BJP’s charge that the Congress manifesto bears the imprint of the Muslim League, Kharge said, “Modi does not look at our manifesto or read it. I said this earlier if he finds the imprint of the Muslim League in this. We will send one person from the Congress office to help him explain it for him.” He said the party manifesto is for the youth, farmers, labourers and the weaker sections
Lalu confident of INDIA bloc forming govt after June 4
Expressing confidence of the INDIA bloc coming to power in the Lok Sabha polls, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has said that the Modi government will be voted out as results are declared on June 4.
“We will know the results soon. Modi will go (lose power),” he said.
He also took a jibe at PM Modi’s remarks in an interview that God sent him for a purpose.
‘Modi is saying that he is not biological, he is an ‘avatar’…Our government will be formed on June 4,” Lalu Prasad told the media. RJD is part of INDIA bloc.
Earlier, PM Modi had said in an interview with a news channel that till his mother was alive, he felt that perhaps his birth was biological and after her demise when he connects various experiences, he is convinced that God has sent him.
Election to 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar is being held in seven phases. In 2019, BJP-led NDA swept the state by winning 39 out of 40 seats, while Congress won just one seat. Votes will be counted on June 4.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad alleging that the latter has forgotten the “language of development” and wants to bring back politics of “tel pilawan and lathi ghoomawan.”
“Lalu ji’s alliance wants to bring back the politics of ‘tel pilawan and lathi ghoomawan’ whereas Modiji wants to bring the politics of development. Lalu ji, who has been indulged in many scams, has today forgotten the language of development,” Shah said while addressing a public rally in Bihar’s Karakat Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday.
Shah alleged that the RJD chief has “taken shelter” of an “anti-backwards party” referring to the opposition alliance, the INDIA bloc, further claiming that the latter has joined hands with the Congress to make his son Chief Minister.
“Congress has always opposed the backward and extremely backward societies whereas our leader Narendra Modi ji worked to give constitutional respect to the backward society by forming Backward Class Commission,” he said.
The Union Home Minister also claimed that the governemnt under PM Modi raised the budget for Dalit welfare to over Rs 1 lakh crore which was way less during the UPA government 10 years back.
“When Congress was in power, their budget for Dalit welfare was only Rs 41,000 crore. The work of increasing it to Rs 1,65,000 crore has been done by Narendra Modi ji. In 10 years, UPA’s Sonia-Manmohan government had given only Rs 2,80,000 crore to Bihar. Whereas Narendra Modi ji has given Rs 14,23,000 crore for the development of Bihar,” Shah said.
Shah also reiterated his statement of “reclaiming” Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and said, “Congress says that Pakistan has the atom bomb, don’t ask for PoK from it. I want to say from here today that PoK belongs to India and will remain so and we will have it.”
He further claimed that the PM Modi-led NDA has crossed 310 seats in the five phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and expressed confidence in the alliance crossing 400 seats in the remaining phases.
ALSO READ-Kejriwal launches scathing attack against BJP in Punjab
