Modi's assurances are untrustworthy, says Mallikarjun Kharge

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the guarantees given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are false as none of them have been fulfilled, leaving the people in utter disarray.Addressing an election rally organized by the INDIA bloc here to seek votes for the Congress nominee V Vaithilingam in the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, Kharge invoked the promises given by the PM regarding two crore jobs per year to the youth, which were not implemented.

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that the guarantees given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are ''false'' as none of them have been fulfilled, leaving the people in ''utter disarray''.

Addressing an election rally organized by the INDIA bloc here to seek votes for the Congress nominee V Vaithilingam in the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, Kharge invoked the promises given by the PM regarding two crore jobs per year to the youth, which were not implemented. ''Similarly, the farmers are not getting a hike in prices for their produce or minimum support price for their crops. The promise of every person getting Rs 15 lakh from retrieval of black money stacked abroad is also yet to be realised,'' Kharge said. The Congress president said that such guarantees or promises were ''false'' and people ''were taken for a ride''. He said that the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls would be an opportunity for the people to support the INDIA bloc and ''ensure protection of their fundamental rights and democracy''. Alleging that BJP had done nothing to prevent inflation, Kharge claimed that both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are ''misusing'' the agencies like Enforcement Directorate, CBI and Income Tax to harass MPs and MLAs of the opposition and pressure them to switch their allegiance to the BJP. He added that whenever BJP could not get power, they adopted arm-twisting methods and harassed elected members of the opposition.

The AICC president said that state governors were also used to harass the Chief Ministers of opposition-ruled states. He said that the Congress leader in Puducherry, V Narayanasamy (who translated Kharge`s speech into Tamil), had faced harassment at the hands of the Lt Governor here when he was heading the Puducherry government. Kharge alleged that the same tendency was now witnessed in Tamil Nadu also and Chief Minister M K Stalin was also facing harassment at the hands of the Governor. He alleged that the Tamil Nadu Governor was refusing to sign files sent to him by the CM and was ''withholding approval of good schemes for the people''. ''If this is the fate of elected Chief Ministers, how can democracy work? People should think whether the Prime Minister is following the Constitution,'' Kharge said, claiming that Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy is a ''tool'' in the hands of the BJP. Stating that the Congress is deeply committed to getting statehood for Puducherry, the AICC leader said that the manifesto released recently by the BJP did not mention this issue anywhere. Tamilnadu Minister for Higher Education K Ponmudi, TNCC president Selva Perunthagai, the Congress candidate for the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat V Vaithilingam and local leaders were among those who spoke at the event. Later, addressing a mammoth gathering in Cuddalore, Kharge urged the people to wisely elect those representatives who would take up their cause, both inside and outside the parliament.

The big gathering today had a lot to do with the current situation being faced by the country due to the BJP government's rule at the Centre, the Congress leader said, and accused it of constantly undermining the elected government of Tamil Nadu by targeting the DMK government. ''Therefore you have to fight and for that you have to elect the representatives who take up your cause. Vishnu Prasad and Thol Thirumavalavan will fight for your cause and will deliver the goods,'' he said. ''Vishnu Prasad, contesting on Hand symbol (of the Congress) and Thirumavalavan (VCK chief) contesting on Pot symbol are here. You need the hand to hold or catch the pot to fetch water,'' he said, and added Thirumavalavan was known to agitate for people's cause. Throughout his 53 years of political life as a legislator or a parliamentarian, he had never seen such a governor as in Tamil Nadu who was creating problems for the duly elected state government.

''The Governor thinks he is the king and the elected Chief Minister and Ministers are nothing. This attitude will change only when the INDIA bloc comes to power. So work in that direction,'' Kharge urged the cadres. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan ''Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (together with all, development for all)'' he alleged that while the country was affected by price rise, increasing unemployment and other issues, the BJP government appeared to be unconcerned. ''What is happening around is Sabka barbad,'' he alleged, and sought a clear mandate to the INDIA bloc to save democracy and the Constitution of India.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)