Statement of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday launched a direct attack on the central government on various issues and said that if the opposition ‘India’ (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) had won 20 more seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have been in jail. The BJP hit back at Kharge and alleged that his remarks were a clear example of the Congress’ “emergency mentality”. Kharge, without naming anyone, said during an election rally in Anantnag, “They (BJP) used to say 400 paar, 400 paar. Where did your 400 paar go? They got only 240 seats. If we had won 20 more seats, they would have been in jail. They deserve to be in jail.” “Abki baar 400 paar” was the slogan of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP got 240 seats in the election, while ‘India’ including the Congress got 234 seats. Kharge stood by his remarks when questioned about this at a press conference in Srinagar.
Shahzad Poonawala reacted to Kharge’s statement
Reacting to Kharge’s statement, BJP spokesperson Shahzad Poonawala wrote on ‘X’, “This is a clear example of Congress’s ’emergency’ mentality. Indira Gandhi had imposed emergency and put opposition leaders in jail. Congress wants to continue that legacy.” Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed emergency on 25 June 1975 which continued for 21 months. Kharge said at a press conference in Srinagar that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should stop trying to break political parties and alliances opposing it, as it (BJP) has a minority government at the Center which is dependent on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal-United (JDU) for its survival. Kharge said, “Congress and National Conference (NC) are contesting elections together (in Jammu and Kashmir), due to which BJP is scared. Now they are trying to break the alliance. ”
BJP is fielding private players
He said they (BJP) are fielding private players and indirectly supporting them as independents in an attempt to defeat Congress-NC candidates. He indicated that these independent candidates are getting money from the BJP. Kharge said, “BJP, stop doing this now. Your government has not 400 but 200 MPs. This is a minority government. (Chandrababu) Naidu (TDP) can withdraw support anytime; Nitish Kumar (JD-U) can come out (from the alliance) anytime. You have given one hand to someone else and one leg to someone else. You should proceed carefully.” The Congress president appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect a strong government with a huge majority that can solve their problems.
“BJP will topple the government through horse-trading”
He said, “If you elect a government (with a marginal majority), the BJP will topple the government overnight through horse-trading (of MLAs). This happened in my state Karnataka. They bought 16 people (MLAs). In Maharashtra, they broke the Shiv Sena and (NCP) Nationalist Congress Party to form the government. This (BJP government) is a ‘torture-torture government’.” Kharge launched a scathing attack on the central government and alleged that Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were making false promises. He said, “They had promised to give five lakh jobs. There are one lakh vacancies in government posts in Jammu and Kashmir. Why have they not been filled?” The Congress chief alleged that unemployment and inflation are rising, but the BJP is giving resources including minerals to its select people, due to which the local people are becoming poor.
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