LoP in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi with party President Mallikarjun Kharge
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A day after Rahul Gandhi attacked Narendra Modi as a "puppet of billionaires", Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the Prime Minister of making the "rich richer and poor poorer" while "eliminating freedom of speech" and imprisoning those who speak out against his mistakes.
Addressing election rallies in Jamtara and Ranchi, Kharge also questioned delaying the helicopters of his and Rahul Gandhi and Opposition leaders not being allowed access to reserved airport lounge despite holding Cabinet rank citing security protocol for Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah.
He also attacked Champai Soren, a former Jharkhand Chief Minister who quit JMM to join the BJP ahead of elections, and called him a "traitor", who proved to be "unfaithful to those who nurtured" people like him.
Referring to the jailing of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren earlier this year, he said is it democracy to jail a tribal Chief Minister and it meant that the BJP wanted to crush those who keep raising their heads.
Kharge alleged that Modi was sitting on funds to the tune of Rs 1.36 lakh crore for Jharkhand besides denying money for PM Awas Yojana in the state.
Under Modi, he claimed, the country's 62 per cent wealth is now with 5 per cent rich while only 3 per cent assets are with 50 per cent people. "The Prime Minister's policies are making rich richer, poor poorer...Modi-ji will betray you, hand over your ‘Jal, Jungle, Jameen’ to industrialists," he said.
"Modi is snatching people's rights, those who oppose him being implicated in false cases by ED, CBI, IT. Modi has eliminated freedom of speech and jails those who point out his mistakes," he said.
In an apparent reference to Modi stranded at Deoghar airport following his plane developing a snag and Rahul's chopper not allowed to take off due to security protocol, he alleged the top Congress leader's chopper was delayed for two hours on Friday.
"Today, my chopper was delayed by 20 minutes as Union Home Minister Amit Shah was landing. His path was separate and mine was separate.
"Rahul-ji, who is the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, holds a cabinet minister's rank, and so do I. But in the airport's reserved lounge, they (officials) say it is for Prime Minister Modi, I want to ask can even a toilet be reserved for the PM," he said without mentioning the name of the airport.
With the BJP raising the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators being settled in Jharkhand by the I.N.D.I.A. parties, Kharge shot back, "Are Modi and Amit Shah sleeping? Why can't they check infiltration despite being in power? When they can stop a helicopter, why can't they stop infiltrators?"
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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