New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) Asserting that previous Congress governments gave food security to people, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that steps by Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi made lives better for the poor and questioned the contribution of the Modi government.
Addressing an event, where the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Award-2026 was presented to the S Swaminathan Research Foundation, he said Indira Gandhi fought against hunger with the Green Revolution and later Sonia Gandhi gave the ‘right to food’ to every Indian.
Kharge said the scale of the transformation can be seen clearly in the numbers from 1960-61 to 1980-81, when rice production increased by more than 50 per cent (34.6 million tonnes to 53.6 million tonnes), while wheat production more than tripled (11 million tonnes to 36.3 million tonnes).
“Hence, the green revolution succeeded in transforming India from ‘beggar bowl’ to a ‘grain bowl’,” he said and also hailed the contribution of M S Swaminathan.
The Congress chief said Swaminathan was known for his contributions to the Green Revolution, when in the 1960s India was grappling with famines and acute food scarcity and was importing food.
He said as a result, in the early 60s during Jawaharlal Nehru’s final term and Lal Bahadur Shastri’s brief effective regime, agricultural reforms shifted from institutional to a multifarious technological endeavour.
Then, he said, came the Green Revolution which was one of the watershed initiatives of Indira Gandhi, whom he described as an ‘iron lady’, and became a key government priority.
Recalling Swaminathan’s views, Kharge said he later wrote that Indira Gandhi understood that technology alone would not be enough –it had to be accompanied by irrigation, electricity, seeds, fertilisers, credit and effective extension services to reach farmers.
“Together, these changes transformed India’s food economy and laid the foundation for food self-sufficiency,” he said, adding that Swaminathan himself described Indira Gandhi as “the most successful warrior against hunger of this era.” “This is the achievement of our government. But what is the achievement of the present government, what is the achievement of Mr Modi…,” Kharge said while attacking the BJP-led government Recalling that Indira Gandhi improted wheat from the US to fill the stomachs of millions of Indians fighting hunger, he said, “But today we are standing on our feet and have produced lakhs of tonnes and Sonia Gandhi brought Food Security Act to provide food to millions of people across India. This is called work.” “It is not by hugging someone or saying anything anywhere,” he said in a swipe at the prime minister.
Making an oblique reference to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is currently abroad, Kharge said, “I have heard an RSS leader, who made boasts in his speech and claimed everything is well in India.
“He also claimed that they have improved the state of affairs in India. It is not you, but we who improved India; Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi made lives better.” “The theft that you are doing, we all have to run after you to catch your theft…,” the Congress chief said.
Kharge lauded Swaminathan’s achievements in not just growing more food, but understanding that rural development was not just about agricultural production, it was about the quality of life of the people who lived in rural India.
He said he believed that development had to reach the village, the tribal hamlet, the fishing community and the small farmer; and that growth must protect the land, the water, the livelihoods and the future.
Kharge also remembered the contribution of former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, whose life he said was defined by the commitment towards the Congress party and the people of united Andhra Pradesh as he worked for the welfare of marginalised families.
“Reddy ji did not hold the party card but built it brick by brick in Andhra Pradesh. I can say proudly that because of him, we were able to form the central government also,” he said, recalling how under Rajasekhar Reddy the Congress won all the seats in united Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and state’s Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, besides other leaders also spoke. PTI SKC RT
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