Thankfully, he is not talking ‘600-paar’: Mallikarjun Kharge’s jibe at PM Modi’s ‘400-paar’ remarks

Kharge launched a scathing attack on the PM, alleging his government is "cut off from the poor", and is working just for the interest of a handful of industrialists.

ByPTI

Published May 15, 2024 | 11:35 PM Updated May 15, 2024 | 11:36 PM

Kharge attacks PM Modi ahead of the next phase of Lok Sabha elections

Making fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that the NDA’s tally is going “400-paar” (400-plus) this Lok Sabha elections, Congress President Mallikarjun kharge Wednesday, 15 May, said thankfully he is not talking about “600-paar” because there are only 543 seats.

He was addressing a rally at Sarai Umar in the Harchandpur assembly segment in Rae Bareli.

Kharge said he has signed all the “promises made by our party” and they will be fulfilled if the INDIA bloc forms government. “It’s not like ‘Modi ki guarantee’ which is never fulfilled.”

He launched a scathing attack on the PM, alleging his government is “cut off from the poor”, and is working just for the interest of a handful of industrialists.

People will bid goodbye to this dispensation and the opposition coalition will come to power after the results are announced in the first week of June, Kharge said.

Also Read: PM should focus on development issues, not divisive politics: Kharge

Promises of doubling free ration

The Congress president reiterated that if the INDIA bloc is voted to power, it will double the quantity of free ration provided by the BJP government to the poor.

He was referring to the Modi government scheme of providing five kg ration to the poor every month. “The Congress brought the Food Security Act, you (PM Modi did nothing. You are giving five kg free ration, if the INDIA bloc forms government, we will give 10 kg ration to the poor, ” he said.

Kharge attacked the PM for saying “Bhago maat (don’t flee) to make fun of Rahul Gandhi choosing to contest from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi, which he lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019.

The fact is that Modi himself has ran away from Gujarat and chose Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to contest the poll, Kharge said.

Campaigning to seek vote for Rahul Gandhi, Kharge said Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi ushered in development in Rae Bareli and asked the Modi government to list one new work done by his government in Rae Bareli and Amethi.

He said Modi had promised to double the income of farmers and provide two crore jobs to unemployed youths and asked the crowd “have these been fulfilled?”

Also Read: ‘Outgoing PM’ has no agenda barring Hindu-Muslim politics: Congress

Other assurances

The Congress president said that after coming to power, the opposition coalition government would fill 30 lakh vacancies in government departments and public sector undertakings out of which half would be for the weaker sections.

He also made light of the “Modi hai to mumkin hai” slogan of the BJP, saying “it is mumkin that the prices of petrol, diesel and fertilizer would be further increased.”

Kharge reiterated his party’s promises of raising MGNREGA remuneration to ₹400 and waiving off loans of small farmers as the UPA government did by writing off ₹72,000-crore worth loans of farmers.

He also talked about providing ₹8,500 per month, translating into ₹1 lakh per annum, to the elderly woman of the poor families.

Kharge said some BJP leaders are talking of changing the Constitution. “It’s because of this Constitution that Modi is sitting on the top post and which provides security to the poor,” he said.

Election in Rae Bareli is scheduled in the fifth phase on 20 May. Rahul Gandhi is pitted against the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh and others from the seat.

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