Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Dalits, tribals to become slaves again if Modi, Shah get third term, says Mallikarjun Kharge

'Before Independence, the poor, Dalits and tribals were treated like slaves. If you give a third term to Modi and Shah, the same situation will repeat. We will become slaves again,' Kharge said.

Dhule, Maharashtra: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday asked people to vote for his party, claiming that a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would mean that the poor, Dalits and tribals would be “treated like slaves”.

Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Dhule constituency, where the Congress has fielded former MLA Shobha Bachhav, Kharge appealed to voters to choose his party to save democracy and the Constitution.

“Before Independence, the poor, Dalits and tribals were treated like slaves. If you give a third term to Modi and Shah, the same situation will repeat. We will become slaves again,” he said.

Dhule in north Maharashtra will go to polls in the fifth phase of the general elections on May 20. Here, the BJP has nominated former Union minister Subhash Bhamre.

“You have to vote for your own sake and your own people. We need to save the Constitution. This election will shape the future of the country, thus it is an important election,” he said.

If there is no Constitution, there will be “no one to save you”, he said, claiming that “RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said in 2015 that the Constitution should be changed”. Later, many BJP MPs and saffron party leaders also made similar statements, he said.

Kharge also accused PM Modi of “spreading lies”.

Modi chest-thumped about bringing back black money from abroad but never delivered on that promise, said Kharge.

“He claimed to provide two crore jobs every year but never did. Instead of increasing farmers’ income, as per his claims, his wrong policies increased the production cost for growers. That is why Modi should be removed from power,” Kharge added.