Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Kalaburagi, was a well-hatched conspiracy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the RSS leaders.
“It was not the people of the constituency or the voters responsible for my defeat, but Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, and a group of RSS leaders plotted for my defeat in the Lok Sabha elections,” Mr. Kharge reiterated.
He was addressing the gathering at a programme organized to felicitate him on his maiden visit to the city after being nominated Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
“Mr. Modi indicated to me about my defeat prior to the elections, as he was afraid of my performance in the Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition. He did not take it in the democratic spirit and acted with vengeance, but I will continue to fight till my last breath as the fight is for principles and ideologies that I won’t compromise with,” Mr. Kharge said and added, “I will continue to fight for their rights as long as I have the blessings of my people [Kalaburagi district].”
The leader said that his fight is for inclusive growth, development, upliftment of the downtrodden, and protection of secular principles enshrined in the Constitution. He cautioned that the RSS aimed to polarize and divide the people on communal lines.
He alleged that the Modi-led government at the Centre started selling the assets created by the Congress governments over the years. He also criticized the Centre’s decision to change the names of the schemes launched by Congress.
Lashing out at BJP leaders for claiming credit while doing nothing for the country he said, “Whatever India is today on the world map, it is owing to the efforts of successive Congress governments,” Mr. Kharge said and added that Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, and his leaders were not even born when Congress members were fighting for Independence. “Congress leaders were beaten up by the British, sent to jail, and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of India. Today, BJP leaders are enjoying the fruits of the struggle and still ask Congress what it has done in the last seven decades,” he added.
“We [Congress] had brought in the Right to Education Act, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, for the poor.
He alleged that BJP-led government in the last seven years has ruined India. Modi came to power promising 2 lakh jobs every year, far from giving 14 crore employment in seven years, more than 3 crore people [1.5 crore each in the public and private sector] lost their jobs under BJP’s rule, he added.
Grand welcome
Mr. Kharge, who had arrived in Kalaburagi for the first time after being nominated as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, received a red carpet welcome by party workers and supporters.
The city had been decorated with Congress flags, arches, and large cutouts of the leader. He landed at Kalaburagi airport at 11.40 a.m. and was received by local party leaders.
Hundreds of bikes and four-wheelers followed him in a procession taken out from the airport to the venue of the felicitation programme.
