Kharge criticises Modi’s policies, accuses him of stoking communal tensions

Kharge called the passage of the contentious Waqf law for sweeping changes in regulating and managing Islamic charitable endowments a ploy for communal tensions

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance and policies, saying he calls himself backward for political benefits but refuses to conduct a caste census to help backward people, and stokes communal tensions.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (PTI)

“Modi ignites the fire and [ruling Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP’s ideological fount] RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] pours petrol on it,” he said in his inaugural speech at the Congress’s central decision-making All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Ahmedabad.

Kharge called the passage of the contentious Waqf law for sweeping changes in regulating and managing Islamic charitable endowments a ploy for communal tensions. “There is a continuous attack on the Constitution. We have to stop it. In the Budget session, the government functioned arbitrarily.” He called it a matter of shame in democracy that the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha.

“What is happening today has not happened before. For communal polarisation, the government ran the House till 3-4am,” he said. He said Union home minister Amit Shah refused to discuss the President’s rule in Manipur. “This means the government wants to hide something,” Kharge said.

Kharge said no discussion was allowed in Parliament on the US tariffs. He demanded an early implementation of the quota for women in parliament and state legislatures.

The reservation will come into effect after the redrawing of constituency boundaries, which can only happen after 2026 following a census that was due in 2021 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Opposition parties have criticised the absence of a timeline for the implementation of the reservation.

Kharge said developed nations are shifting to ballot papers, but India sticks to voting machines. “You have made a technique that benefits you and defeats Opposition. Today or tomorrow, young people will rise and demand ballot papers. Rahul Gandhi raised the [electoral] malpractices in Maharashtra. The same thing happened in Haryana,” Kharge said.

In March, Gandhi questioned the anomalies in the electoral roll for the Maharashtra assembly polls in November. He claimed more voters were added in five months than in five years and that overall they surpassed Maharashtra’s adult population.

Kharge complained of a step-motherly attitude towards non-BJP ruled states and called Modi a friend of the rich who cannot befriend the poor. “The Prime Minister works only to harass the Opposition parties and not for the country,” he said as the Congress is holding a key event in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where the BJP has been in power for almost three decades, as part of an attempt to revive itself in the state.

Kharge said monopolies were being established. “The public sector is being privatised, which is a blow to the quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. They are selling the public sector to their friends. One day, Modi will sell this country.” He accused the government of trying to control every institution, including the Election Commission of India and Parliament.

Kharge cited Modi’s assurances over doubling farm income and following the 2016 demonetisation, and said they have to fight. He said Modi works for publicity. “He takes feedback on his work by calling some people to his office. He should come out in the field and ask people how his government is functioning.”

Kharge said Modi has not done anything good for the country. “He removed the Planning Commission,” he said, referring to the move to replace the commission with the NITI Aayog in 2015.