Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, attacked the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a host of issues on Monday, including the NEET row and arrests of the Opposition's politicians.
"PM Modi embarrassed India. They used to call the 'Gamandiya alliance', they used to say if there is Modi, anything is possible. But the arrogance of the BJP ended after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Kharge said while replying to the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the Parliament.
"Elections proved that Constitution and public weigh over everything," he added.
The BJP won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The party had to rely on its allies to form a government at the Centre. The Congress nearly doubled its seats tally – from 52 to 99.
Kharge said there was no vision or direction in the President's address to the Parliament. He attacked the ruling party for only giving slogans and not doing development work.
He claimed there was no mention of the poor, Dalits and minorities in the President's address to the Parliament.
{{/usCountry}}He claimed there was no mention of the poor, Dalits and minorities in the President's address to the Parliament.
{{/usCountry}}Kharge said while the Opposition talks about the plight of the common man, PM Modi only does 'Mann Ki Baat'.
'Mann Ki Baat' is PM Modi's monthly radio programme.
Kharge pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't visited strife-torn Manipur.
Kharge also appealed to the Rajya Sabha chairman to put back statues of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar back in their old spots.
The Congress chief also mentioned the massive NEET row in his reply, claiming the government initially denied any paper leak. He added that the government later clarified and accepted that irregularities took place.
"President has said we will work together. But the words have been confined to just speech and not in action," he added.
"This election witnessed that a major issue was protecting the Constitution. BJP said it will amend the Constitution. But the elections proved that issues keep coming and going but Constitution will thrive, democracy will survive, elections will keep happening and we will also be here," Kharge said.
"The common people supported the Opposition in this fight. They took a major step towards protecting the Constitution," he added.
He said there was no meeting before relocating the statues of national leaders in the Parliament complex.
With inputs from PTI, ANI