E-Paper
Mallikarjun Kharge counters nepotism charge; asks PM Modi, ‘Who sacrificed life for India?’
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge countered PM Modi's attack on the grand old party during his reply to the debate on Motion of Thanks in Lok Sabha.
Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scathing attack on the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the BJP leader “cannot sleep without mentioning” the name of the grand old party.
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Prime Minister Modi said that if members of a family do well in politics on their own merit with people's support, his party has never called it dynastic politics.
Amid the charge that the BJP is also full of leaders promoting dynastic politics, Modi said Amit Shah or Rajnath Singh do not run their own political parties. Dynastic politics is when a family runs a party and promotes its own members, he asserted, adding that otherwise even if 10 members of a family enter politics, he welcomes them.
"When it is certain that after one member, his or her son will become its president, then it is a threat to democracy," he said.
Read | Rahul Gandhi hits back at PM Modi over 'biggest OBC' remark, calls for change in mentality
In an interview with News18, Kharge was asked for his response to Prime Minister Modi's clarification on his definition of dynastic politics.
Kharge replied, “He spoke about nepotism, our leaders have sacrificed their lives for the country.”
“I want to ask Modi ji - who from your party or your political descendants has sacrificed their lives for the freedom, unity and integrity of the country?” he added.
Prime Minister Modi projected 370 seats for the BJP after citing various government achievements, including the repeal of Article 370.
Amid INDIA bloc infighting, he said a "bhanumati ka kunba" (disparate alliance) was put together but its members are now saying "ekla chalo" (go alone), an apparent reference to the TMC decision not to have an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal.
Someone became a motor mechanic but could not effect alignment in the alliance, he said in another dig at Rahul Gandhi who had met a group of mechanics recently.
