Tag Archives: Mallikarjun Kharge

Kharge Dismisses Talk of Senior Leaders Shying Away from Contesting Polls

Kharge Dismisses Talk of Senior Leaders Shying Away from Contesting Polls


Last Updated: March 12, 2024, 21:59 IST

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. (Photo: PTI/File)

Kharge was the MP from Karnataka’s Gulbarga from 2009-2014 and had lost from the same seat in 2019

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday rejected suggestions that senior party leaders are shying away from contesting the Lok Sabha polls and said that if workers ask him to fight the elections he may do so.

He, however, indicated that he may not enter the poll fray this time with age being a factor. Kharge was the MP from Karnataka’s Gulbarga from 2009-2014 and had lost from the same seat in 2019.

Asked about reports that senior leaders were opting out of contesting the Lok Sabha polls, Kharge said, “It is wrong that we are backing out. I am 83 years old, you (journalists) retire at 65…So I am 83.”

“If given a chance, everyone goes and tells our party workers (that I should fight)…if they say then I will definitely fight. Look, sometimes we are at the back, sometimes we are ar the forefront, we also have a list of ten people asking for the same seat,” he said.

On another question about the comparison between Modi’s guarantee and that of the Congress, Kharge said, “They stole our guarantee. We started in Karnataka, won the elections, later we did it in Telangana…Modi Saheb is stealing our guarantee and saying ‘this is our guarantee’.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)



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‘Donate for Desh’: Know About Cong’s Crowdfunding Drive & Its Link To Mahatma Gandhi

‘Donate for Desh’: Know About Cong’s Crowdfunding Drive & Its Link To Mahatma Gandhi


Curated By: Sanstuti Nath

Last Updated: December 18, 2023, 15:18 IST

Kharge said the Congress is already working for the interests of the poor, Scheduled Castes, backwards and they have been helping us in the past too (PTI/File)

Under the campaign, the payment link on the party’s website prompts donors to make contributions of Rs 138, Rs 1,380 or Rs 13,800. However, the donor can choose to donate a different amount

Urging people to join the fight against unemployment and rising costs, Congress on Monday launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds ahead of the general election due in 2024. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who launched the “Donate for Desh” campaign in Delhi, took a veiled dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that when you depend on rich people, you have to follow their policies.

The campaign is being launched as Congress completes 138 years, and party chief Kharge became its first donor, by contributing a sum of Rs 1,38,000 from his salary, in the presence of party leaders and general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh and treasurer Ajay Maken.

“Donate for Desh”

Under the campaign, the payment link on the party’s website prompts donors to make contributions of Rs 138, Rs 1,380 or Rs 13,800. However, the donor can choose to donate a different amount.

“It is a very happy day that our party leaders have prepared an App. I feel this is the first time that the Congress is seeking the help of common people to build the country,” he told reporters after the launch.

As part of the campaign, the party will receive money from small donors, he said, adding, “If you keep working by depending on the rich, then tomorrow we would have to agree to their programmes and policies”.

Kharge said the Congress is already working for the interests of the poor, Scheduled Castes, backwards and they have been helping us in the past too.

“Through ‘Donate for Desh’, we will work to take the country forward by taking help from the general public. Congress always got help from the general public. Mahatma Gandhi also got Independence for the country with the help of the people of the country,” he said.

People will in one or two days voluntarily come forward and donate, he said.

“We will collect donations from common people and join them in this fight. We can assure people that there is only one party which is fighting for the poor,” he said.

Link To Mahatma Gandhi

According to Congress leader KC Venugopal, the crowdfunding initiative was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s historic ‘Tilak Swaraj Fund’, launched in 1920-21.

In a post on X, the Congress said, “Beyond a campaign, it’s a commitment to champion the rights of marginalised communities, bridge disparities, and stand as a formidable opposition against a government favouring the affluent”.

“Join us in the fight against unprecedented unemployment and rising costs. Stand with the Indian National Congress as it strides beyond its 138th year, stronger and more determined than ever. Be a Changemaker, Contribute,” the party said.

(With PTI Inputs)



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Like PM, ED is BJP’s Star Campaigner: Kharge

Like PM, ED is BJP’s Star Campaigner: Kharge


Published By: Kavya Mishra

Last Updated: November 07, 2023, 20:33 IST

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (File photo/PTI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax department are also in the fray on the BJP’s behalf, he said at a public meeting here ahead of the November 17 elections in Madhya Pradesh

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said like prime minister Narendra Modi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “star campaigner” in the ongoing assembly elections.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax department are also in the fray on the BJP’s behalf, he said at a public meeting here ahead of the November 17 elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Congress has one candidate (per constituency), but the BJP has four. There is a (party) candidate who is visible, but there are three others who are invisible….ED, which is campaigning like a star campaigner, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A second candidate is the CBI, which also goes after the (rival) candidates to weaken them, and a third is the Income Tax, Kharge said. Besides these three, there is Modi and (Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh) Chouhan….they are like `Panch Pandav’, not of the ancient time but of today’s, who are trying to defeat us, the Congress leader said.

But we have to teach them a lesson, Kharge said.With elections taking place in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, the ED was harassing the party’s leaders there and threatening chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, he alleged.

“This is not a democratic way and not a level-playing field, but this threatening and intimidating is going on, he said.

Last week the ED claimed it had recorded the statement of a ‘cash courier’ who alleged that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app paid Rs 508 crore to Baghel, and it was a ‘subject matter of investigation’.

Slamming BJP leaders for asking what Congress did for the country, Kharge said, The Congress has saved the country and its Constitution, because of which they become chief minister.

These BJP leaders have not fought for the country’s democracy and independence but sided with the British. If we had not made efforts, the country’s picture could have been different.

Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives for the country, he said.

The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh was “number one in corruption, farmer suicides, crime against women, malnutrition and unemployment” and the Congress will bring about a change, Kharge said.

They were in power for the last 18 years in Madhya Pradesh and for ten years in the country and called themselves a double-engine government, but they could not solve the problems of the people of the state, he said.

Talking about the Congress’s various “guarantees” (poll promises), he said it will conduct a caste census to ascertain the exact population of various castes and frame schemes for them accordingly.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)



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After PM Modi in 2019, BJP Prez JP Nadda Resurrects 1987 VVIP ‘Vacation’ on ‘Warship’ INS Viraat. Here’s Why

After PM Modi in 2019, BJP Prez JP Nadda Resurrects 1987 VVIP ‘Vacation’ on ‘Warship’ INS Viraat. Here’s Why


Just ahead of the five state assembly elections and less than a year before the Lok Sabha elections, thanks to a letter by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resurrected an issue that has so far only embarrassed the Congress.

In the four-page letter, Kharge sought to put the Centre in discomfiture over the alleged misuse of bureaucrats and Indian soldiers. However, the move has boomeranged with BJP president JP Nadda responding to it, without naming him, but clearly referring to former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s 1987 vacation to Lakshadweep using warship INS Viraat.

KEEP CIVIL SERVANTS, SOLDIERS OUT OF POLITICS: KHARGE’S LETTER

Kharge, in his letter to the Prime Minister, has criticised a government order regarding a “yatra” involving senior bureaucrats to be organised across India to showcase the Centre’s achievements of the past nine years, calling it “gross misuse of government machinery”. In the letter, Kharge also hit out at the Modi government over an earlier order of the Defence Ministry, directing soldiers on annual leave to spend time to promote government schemes.

“In both the cases, of civil servants and soldiers, it is essential that government machinery is kept out of politics, especially so in the months leading up to an election,” he wrote.

Congress’s media department head Jairam Ramesh latched onto it, asking “civil servants and soldiers, who must at all times, be kept independent and non-political”.

Earlier, Congress leader Pawan Khera, on October 18, criticised a letter talking about senior bureaucrats acting as “rath prabhari” (special officers) in each of the 765 districts in the country, covering 2.69 lakh gram panchayats.

In a bid to corner the government, Kharge wrote, “All agencies, institutions, arms, wings, and departments are now officially ‘pracharaks’….In view of protecting our democracy and our Constitution, it is imperative that the…orders are withdrawn immediately.”

PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY GOVT’S DUTY, CONCEPT ALIEN TO CONG: NADDA ON X

BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya immediately defended the government orders saying, “Who said bureaucrats in GoI are not meant to talk about the programmes and schemes implemented? Should they just sit in offices and not be on the ground to assess impact? Bureaucrats are duty-bound to serve the people, as the elected government deems fit.”

Malviya added that PM Modi wants complete saturation of welfare schemes such as the PM Awas Yojana (Grameen), National Rural Livelihood Mission, and PM Kisan, among others.

Soon, Nadda came to defend the Modi government in his aggressive style. Nadda posted on X: “It may be an alien concept to the Congress party, but public service delivery is the duty of a government. If the Modi government wants to ensure saturation of all schemes and ensure we reach all beneficiaries, nobody, who has the interest of the poor in his mind, can have a problem. But the Congress only has an interest in keeping the poor in poverty and hence their opposition to the saturation drive.”

Then came the Rajiv bombshell without naming him. He posted, “Regarding opposition to a ‘rath’, it is a fit use of public resources, unlike using warships as personal yachts.” He ended the post with a smiley.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE WARSHIP?

Although Nadda didn’t name anyone, the reference was for all to spot. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had embarked on INS Viraat off Trivandrum on December 28, 1987, to Lakshadweep island. One would wonder, so what?

On May 9, 2019, while addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan in the heart of the national capital, Modi had claimed that Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat as a “personal taxi” for a holiday during his tenure as prime minister.

The very same day, Modi had shared an old article elaborating on Gandhi’s vacation on X, while saying, “Ever imagined that a premier warship of the Indian armed forces could be used as a taxi for a personal holiday? One dynasty did it and that too with great swag.”

Later, the Indian Navy confirmed that Sonia Gandhi had accompanied Rajiv Gandhi on that tour, while other details weren’t available with them. However, the article PM Modi had shared claimed that, along with Sonia Gandhi’s Italian relatives, actor Amitabh Bachchan’s family had also joined the holiday on the idyllic island in the Indian Ocean.

As the Congress raised the issue of the “misuse” of bureaucrats and India’s soldiers, the BJP couldn’t find a better counter which hurt the Congress’s first family. The counter to Modi’s “rath” with Congress’s “warships as personal yachts” only establishes that Nadda was referring to what PM Modi referred to in a jam-packed rally in 2019 that surprised many who were unaware of that chapter of history.





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‘Must Have Got Direction from 10 Janpath…’: BJP Slams Cong Chief Kharge for Skipping PM’s I-Day Speech

‘Must Have Got Direction from 10 Janpath…’: BJP Slams Cong Chief Kharge for Skipping PM’s I-Day Speech


Curated By: Saurabh Verma

Last Updated: August 15, 2023, 18:03 IST

BJP leader and Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Kharge must have got directions from the Gandhi family to not attend the event.

(File: PTI)

The chair reserved for Kharge, who was also Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, was left vacant in the audience. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi also skipped the grand celebrations at Red Fort

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched attacks on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for skipping the Independence Day event at Red Fort in Delhi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation.

The chair reserved for Kharge, who was also Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, was left vacant in the audience. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi also skipped the grand celebrations at Red Fort.

The Empty Red Chair: Kharge Skips I-Day Event at Red Fort, Says ‘Some People Speak As If…’

BJP leader and Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Kharge must have got directions from the Gandhi family to not attend the event.

“He must have got direction from the 10, Janpath and family to not go. He can’t do anything without clearance from the family. The family must have said that as long as we are not in government we should not celebrate India and Independence Day, maybe he’ll show up for the Italian Independence Day,” he said.

Union Minister Prahlad Patel said the opposition parties should refrain from doing politics on the day of the national festival.

“The country and people like us expect that no politics should be played on national festivals. I don’t know how much the country will trust his (Mallikarjun Kharge) absence but the fact is that we have two national festivals and everybody be it a party member or opposition member should take it seriously. These are such occasions when everybody should keep their differences aside and come forward for the pride of India. This isn’t a law but an esteemed tradition,” he said.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the opposition does not participate in Parliament discussions and walks away when the PM speaks.

“The opposition doesn’t play its role. They don’t participate in Parliament discussions and walk away when the PM speaks. The LoP (Mallikarjun Kharge) doesn’t attend the event despite being invited,” he said.

Kharge Clarifies For Skipping PM Modi’s Speech

Kharge clarified that he could not attend the PM’s event due to eye-related problems and a security situation.

“Firstly, I have some eye-related problems. Secondly, I had to hoist the Tricolour at my residence at 9.20 am as per protocols. Then I had to come to the Congress office and hoist the Tricolour here too. So, I could not have reached here. The security is so tight that they don’t let anyone else leave before the PM leaves…I thought that I will not be able to reach here on time…I thought it better to not go there to the security situation and lack of time.”

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)





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With More Parties in Oppn Bloc, UPA Renamed as INDIA at Bengaluru Huddle; Next Meet in Mumbai

With More Parties in Oppn Bloc, UPA Renamed as INDIA at Bengaluru Huddle; Next Meet in Mumbai


Last Updated: July 18, 2023, 18:56 IST

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with other leaders at the opposition meet in Bengaluru on July 17, 2023. (Twitter/@kharge)

Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that all the opposition parties have jointly decided to prepare an action plan for 2024 where they will talk about their ideology and programmes

After the deliberation at the Congress’s big opposition meeting in Bengaluru, the leaders of key opposition parties decided to call their alliance ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced.

The Congress President also said that an 11-member committee will be set up for coordination and the next meeting of the I.N.D.I.A will take place in Mumbai. The date of the meeting will be announced soon.

Kharge said a common secretariat will also be set up in Delhi for campaign management and specific committees will be formed for separate issues.

Taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, Kharge said that he was now trying to bring together parties that had splintered and this shows that “he is afraid of opposition parties”.

“There are some differences between us but we have put that behind… We are together in the interest of the country,” Kharge said. “We’ll fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly and succeed,” he said.

Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that all the opposition parties have jointly decided to prepare an action plan for 2024 where they will talk about their ideology and programmes.

“The fight is against the ideology of the BJP and their thinking, they are attacking the country, unemployment is rampant, and the country’s wealth is being taken away from millions and handed over in the hands of a few,” PTI quoted Gandhi as saying.

Who Suggested The Name I.N.D.I.A?

According to PTI, the name I.N.D.I.A was suggested by TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and there was a lot of discussion on the full form of the term, INDIA. She wanted the name to be aligned with the values the coalition represents in connection with the country.

In her remarks at the presser, Banerjee thanked all leaders present and referred to Rahul Gandhi as “our favourite.”

She also launched a scathing attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said, “BJP, can you challenge INDIA? We love our motherland, we are the patriotic people of the country, we are for farmers, Dalits, we are for the country, for the world.”

The only job the regime at the Centre does today is to buy and sell governments, she alleged.

Top opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra along with presidents and leaders of several parties attended the meeting



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