Monday, 29 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge launched the election campaign of the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections here on Sunday by exhorting the party workers to work hard and throw the BJP out of power. Addressing a well attended workers conclave at Bannu School ground the Congress president said that the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is working hard day and night and the workers should work in the masses to get positive results in the elections. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the one man worship being practiced by the BJP, the Congress president said Modi wants to become the 11th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. He said that Modi has a habit of taking credit for everything and is an expert in telling lies. In an offensive on the guarantees of Modi, Kharge said that his guarantees can be understood from the fact he had promised to bring all the black money deposited in the foreign banks and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every citizen. He said that the Modi government had promised to double the income of farmers and create two crore new jobs every year but all these promises have proved to be hollow.
The Congress president said that the BJP and PM Modi have made it a habit of asking about 70 years of Congress party rule but everyone knows what the Congress had done for the country. “Our governments had built Pantnagar university, opened AIIMS Rishikesh and IIT Roorkee in Uttarakhand and set up companies such as GAIL, SAIL, HAL,NITs, IIMs and ushered in the green revolution in the country. What have you done other than selling the PSUs and selling the country,’’ asked Kharge amid an applause from the crowd. He said that the Food Security Act, Right To Information and MNREGA were brought by the Congress and the BJP has done nothing for the poor. The Congress president said that Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives for the unity of the country while Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi spent years in jail during the freedom struggle. He said that the people who are questioning Congress were seeking jobs from the British and had no role in the freedom struggle. He said that the Congress protected democracy and the constitution in the country. “Modi ji would have sold tea and I would have worked as a labourer had the constitution not been there,’’ he said.
Kharge said that the people of Uttarakhand want to know about the murder of Ankita Bhandari and are agitated as those involved in the murder are getting protection from the government. He said that the youngsters of Uttarakhand have been hit hard by the Agnipath scheme. The Congress president said that more than 30 lakh jobs are vacant in the government sector in the country but the Modi government is not filling them. He claimed that a conspiracy to end reservation in government jobs is being hatched and efforts to re-establish the practice preached by Manu are being undertaken.
Speaking on the occasion the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara said the Agnipath scheme has shattered the dreams of youngsters. The Leader of Opposition (LoP) Yashpal Arya said that the mining mafia is ruling the roost in Uttarakhand. Former PCC president Pritam Singh said that the Congressmen will put up a united fight in the upcoming elections to defeat BJP. Former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal said that the BJP is using religion to further its electoral fortunes.
Former CM Harish Rawat, state in-charge Kumari Selja, AICC general secretary Bhakt Charan Das, MLAs, former MPs and others were present on the occasion.
Rahul Gandhi causing sleepless nights for Modi: Kharge
DEHRADUN: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge drew applause from the crowd whenever he attacked PM Modi. Seeking apology from the people for arriving late in the public meeting, Kharge said that now one has to seek permission from Modi to board the plane, step out of it and embark on a helicopter and its landing which consumes time. He claimed that PM Modi always dreams about Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi is causing him sleepless nights. Kharge also alleged that the Nyaya Yatra of Rahul Gandhi was deliberately disrupted by the BJP government of Assam.
