Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | I.N.D.I.A. bloc will get clear majority, will give country inclusive govt: Kharge

New Delhi: As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections wound up, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday targeted the BJP for its “countless attempts to mislead” people on “religious and divisive” issues and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about 'mandir-masjid-Muslim' 421 times while I.N.D.I.A stuck to people’s issues.

Expressing confidence that the Opposition bloc would get majority on its own and oust the Modi government, he said people have “endorsed” I.N.D.I.A's view that it will be the end of democracy if the BJP is given another shot at power this time.

Addressing a press conference hours before the end of the campaign for the seventh and last phase of polls, he said he was confident that people will give a mandate for an alternative government on June 4 and the I.N.D.I.A bloc will give the country an “inclusive, nationalistic, developmental government”.

Alleging that Modi and BJP leaders tried hard to divert attention, he said the 2024 election will be remembered for long because people across religions, sex, caste and language have taken upon themselves the task to save democracy and Constitution.

People did not get diverted and they stuck to issues, he said adding, the Opposition focussed its campaign on price rise, unemployment, economic inequality and erosion of Constitutional institutions among others.

"In contrast if you look at the BJP campaign and the speeches of the Prime Minister in the last 15 days, Modi took Congress’ name 232 times, his own name 758 times and on 573 occasions, he spoke about I.N.D.I.A and Opposition parties. But not even once, he spoke about unemployment. From this you will know how concerned he is about people's issues,” Kharge said.

Referring to the Election Commission's directions on not campaigning on caste or communal lines, he said, “he (Modi) spoke 421 about 'mandir, masjid, muslim' and other religions, to divide society. He also referred to 'Muslim, Pakistan, minorities' 224 times.” Modi also spoke about himself being god and some leaders also spoke about it, he added.

Asked about some I.N.D.I.A allies' demand that a Dalit should be their Prime Minister, he said he has not demanded anything from the party on him being a Dalit. He said the issue of the Prime Minister will be discussed in the Opposition bloc and a decision will be taken.

Asked about Modi holding a “record” 206 rallies in this election, Kharge said in 2014 and 2019, the Prime Minister did not do so much campaigning and if he was doing it now, he may know that the BJP is not getting majority.

On Modi's remarks that there will be a political storm on June 4, he said the Prime Minister knows about what is going to happen and that is why he is scared.

“This election for the 18th Lok Sabha will be remembered for a long time because in this election, every citizen of the country has come together to save democracy and the Constitution, forgetting caste, creed, religion, region, gender, language,” he said.

He also said Modi will get more time after June 4 to read Mahatma Gandhi's memoirs My Experiments with Truth in reference to the Prime Minister's claim that the world came to know about the Father of the Nation only after Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi.

“Yesterday, PM Modi told the world that he got to know about Mahatma Gandhi after watching the film by Richard Attenborough. I feel like laughing when I hear from the prime minister that he came to know about the Mahatma after watching a film. Had he read about Mahatma Gandhi, he wouldn't have said so,” he added.

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