Kharge calls Modi 'Jhooton Ka Sardar', accuses him of creating a wedge between religions

HYDERABAD: Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'Jhooton Ka Sardar' (master of liars), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Modi was resorting to falsehood because he was afraid of losing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Kharge accused PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders of focusing their speeches on misleading narratives and attacking the Congress party. He pointed out that instead of discussing the BJP government's performance over the past decade or its manifesto, Modi had intensified his attacks on Congress, even referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as 'Shehzada' (prince). Kharge said these actions were attempts to divert attention from real issues.

"You have won two terms in office. For the first two years, you kept saying Congress can't compete with you. So, why do you keep attacking Congress? This shows that you are afraid of us. Only those who are scared talk about Moguls, Muslim reservation, mutton, beef, the Muslim League, and Mangalsutra," he remarked.

Kharge criticised PM Modi for attempting to instill fear among voters by suggesting that Congress would remove Mangalsutras and take away Hindu properties to distribute to Muslims. Kharge dismissed these claims, saying that there was law and order in the country and that the narratives spread by Modi were baseless.

Kharge alleged that Modi's fear stemmed from Congress's proposal to conduct a caste census across the country. He argued that Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and other weaker sections deserved their fair share of the country's assets, resources, and opportunities. However, he claimed that Modi's government served only a few corporations like Ambani and Adani. Kharge questioned why the Modi government did not conduct the national census in 2021, suggesting that this allowed the government to avoid transparency regarding social and economic data.

Kharge cited examples of Congress's past achievements, such as the nationalisation of banks by Indira Gandhi and land reforms that benefited common and poor people. He accused Modi of spreading fictitious stories to counter Congress's agenda and accused him of attempting to create division among religions.

Kharge mentioned that the Congress government in Telangana had implemented five out of the six guarantees made to the people in the Assembly elections. He added that the remaining guarantee could not be fulfilled due to the Model Code of Conduct. He assured that all other promises would be fulfilled after the Lok Sabha elections. He also promised that the Congress government would support farmers who had lost crops due to recent rains.

He reiterated that Congress always fulfilled its promises. He noted that the Congress had honoured all its promises in Karnataka and would do the same in Telangana.

He said that if the Congress-led alliance formed the next government at the Centre, it would fill 30 lakh vacancies in various government departments and guarantee minimum support prices for crops through legislation. Additionally, he mentioned that the minimum wages for MGNREGS and other workers would be raised to Rs 400.

The Congress president accused the Modi government of neglecting Hyderabad. Referring to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's quote that Hyderabad has the potential to become India's second capital, he said the city deserved more attention from the central government. He suggested that investors who would have come to Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Mumbai were instead moved to Gujarat due to pressure from the government.

In response to Modi's accusations that Ambani and Adani might have sent black money in tempos to the Congress party, Kharge questioned why Modi hadn't ordered a CBI or ED investigation if he suspected wrongdoing.

On the matter of the Prajwal Revanna 'sex scandal,' Kharge said that the Karnataka government had set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT). He stated that appropriate action would be taken once the SIT report was received.

Regarding the allegation that Kharge's son-in-law was involved in a Rs 500 crore scam, he said that he should be punished if the government investigated and found him guilty.