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In a scathing attack on Nitish Kumar, Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the JD(U) chief used to talk of socialism earlier but then “fell into the lap” of the BJP-RSS.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge . (Image: X)
In a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the JD(U) chief used to talk of socialism earlier but then “fell into the lap” of the BJP-RSS, which will dump him “where garbage is dumped”.
Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attempting to win the Bihar Assembly polls through “vote chori” (vote theft), and asserted that the BJP-led NDA’s “double-engine” government in Bihar would be voted out soon, with a new government of the poor, backwards and Dalits being formed.
Targeting Kumar, Kharge said, “Once upon a time, he used to go around and talk about socialism and praise Ram Manohar Lohia and George Fernandes and others. Where did those socialist ideas go? Now you have gone and fallen into the lap of the BJP-RSS.” “This BJP-RSS will dump you where garbage is dumped,” the Congress president said, launching a sharp attack on the Janata Dal (United) chief.
His remarks came after INDIA bloc constituents held a march marking the culmination of the “Voter Adhikar Yatra” led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Mahagathbandhan leaders that covered 1,300 kilometres and passed through 110 Assembly constituencies, covering 25 of the 38 districts in Bihar ahead of the upcoming state election.
“This Voter Adhikar Yatra was discussed throughout the country. There were attempts to disrupt it but people of Bihar and the Mahagathbandhan did not back down,” Kharge said.
“Modi is attempting to win the Bihar polls through vote chori. Be alert. If you are not alert, Modi and (Amit) Shah will ruin you,” he claimed.
“This double-engine government will not be there in six months and the new government that will be formed will be of the poor, women, Dalits and backwards,” the Congress chief said.
“People in Manipur are dying but Modiji is visiting the world. He keeps visiting countries. Sometimes he hugs (US President Donald) Trump and sometimes he makes the Chinese President (Xi Jinping) sit on a swing. Even those who do not want a hug, he forcibly hugs them,” Kharge said.
The Congress chief said since there are a number of speakers, he will not speak for long and put out his speech later for everyone to read.
In a post on X, Kharge said the 15-day yatra has awakened the entire country and while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to create obstacles in its way, the people of Bihar ensured that it was a resounding success.
“Whenever the rights of the weaker sections of the country are threatened, Rahulji raises his voice for them. ’Bharat Jodo Yatra’, ’Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ and ’Jai Bapu-Jai Bhim-Jai Samvidhaan’ and now this yatra is a part of this series. Wherever this yatra passed in Bihar, crores of people came out on the streets to support it. Democracy supporters stood with them across the country. The voice of the yatra reached the entire world,” he said.
The people of Bihar will uproot this “double-engine corrupt government”, Kharge added.
“The Supreme Court also accepted that the opposition was right on the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. We wanted the vote theft of Bihar should be discussed in Parliament. The entire opposition kept protesting, but they kept protecting the Election Commission and did not allow any discussion,” Kharge said.
Bihar has always guided the country with its knowledge, power and passion in times of crisis, he said.
“For the last 11 years, the Modi government has been destroying democracy in instalments. For this, it adopts new methods of theft. First, it distributed the wealth of the poor worth crores of rupees to a few close friends. The profitable public sectors were handed over to them, then the opposition governments were toppled with their financial power. Now after the theft, they have resorted to ’dacoity’,” Kharge said.
“Nitishji himself came to us. But he turned back in fear. He did not have the strength to fight against injustice. Leaving the socialist ideology, he followed RSS, BJP,” the Congress chief said.
Not only in Bihar, but in the entire country — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari — people have come to know the reality of “thieves”, he said.
“You can fool some people for some time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time,” Kharge said.
“Modi Ji is a ’chunavi pradhan mantri’. He is always in election mode. He deploys everything from bogus voters to false propaganda, false announcements, false schemes and jumlabaazi. Modi Ji has used ED-CBI-IT department to capture the country’s politics, but when he got exposed, he brought a new bill in the Parliament to scare the opposition governments,” he added.
Modi was nowhere to be seen during floods and disasters in many states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Kharge alleged.
“Modi ji’s associates used to call Trump a ’Sanatani’. Today, due to America, the livelihood of crores of poor fishermen, farmers and artisans is in danger,” he said.
“They are not concerned about the youth in Bihar. They are not concerned about migration. For 11 years, they have been talking about opening a sugar factory in Bihar, but have not started even one,” he said.
“Friends, theft of your vote means — Theft of your ration; theft of your pension; theft of government housing facility; theft of MNREGA money,” Kharge claimed.
“Gandhi ji, Nehru ji and Dr Ambedkar gave this right to vote to everyone when there were many obstacles in the world. That is why the poor, Dalits, and backward people could vote,” he said.
This right to vote is the basic right of the poor, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and women, Kharge said, urging people to protect this right and strengthen the Constitution and democracy.
The “Gandhi se Ambedkar” march marking the culmination of the “Voter Adhikar Yatra” was stopped midway by police at the Dak Bungalow crossing here. The leaders participating in the march addressed a gathering at the Dak Bungalow crossing.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI’s Annie Raja, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Yusuf Pathan, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and other leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) were among those present.
The march started with the INDIA bloc leaders offering floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi here.
The “Voter Adhikar Yatra”, launched by Rahul Gandhi from Sasaram on August 17, aimed to highlight the alleged assault on people’s right to vote through the SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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