New Delhi, Jul 25 (PTI) Lamenting that the Opposition fell short by only 20-25 seats in “toppling” the Modi government in the last general elections, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said one needs to have ‘maansik bal’, ‘manushya bal’ and ‘aarthik bal’ (ideological, human and economic strength) to move forward.
Addressing a ‘Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan’ of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at the Talkatora Stadium here, he also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on whether he would retire on attaining 75 years of age, as suggested by the RSS.
Calling upon the backwards and other oppressed sections of society to unite in taking on the BJP, Kharge claimed that had they got 25 more seats in the last Lok Sabha polls, they could have come to power.
“One needs to have three things in any society to move forward. It is ‘maansik bal’, ‘manushya bal’ and ‘aarthik bal’. If you don’t have any one of them, you cannot move forward in the country,” he said, urging the OBCs to unite and take on the BJP.
“We went to people in the 18th Lok Sabha taking social justice as the main issue. We got some success, but had we got 20-25 more seats, Modi ji’s government would have been toppled,” he said.
Kharge said the voice of the OBCs will only be heard when OBC people are elected by the people, but currently, they are not being elected by them.
“Modi ji calls himself an OBC, earlier he was in the upper caste, but after becoming (Gujarat) chief minister, he added his community to the OBC list. Then he started his tactics, speaking among OBC people, saying he is amongst them and is a backward class and that he is persecuted. But now, he is persecuting everyone,” the Congress president said.
Accusing the prime minister of being the ‘jhoothon ke sardar’ for speaking lies, he said people are not realising this and are not hating him.
“Modi ji speaks a lie on everything, that is why I keep saying Modi ji is ‘jhoothon ke sardar’. He speaks a lie even in Parliament and it is up to you to make people understand that he is misguiding the country and such a prime minister cannot do good to the society or country,” he said.
Kharge said the party has prepared a plan to bring people from the OBCs to the forefront and asked all Congress chief ministers to launch new welfare schemes for this section of society.
He said conducting a caste-based census in the country and removing the 50 per cent cap on reservation is our demand.
He also claimed that PM Modi does not want to give reservation to those who are educationally backward, but the Congress party will stand with them.
“The Modi government has not taken any concrete steps for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), OBCs and women. Only one person has raised their voice for a caste-based census, and that is — Rahul Gandhi ji,” he said.
Kharge said for the last 11 years, the Narendra Modi government has not taken any concrete steps towards the welfare of the backwards, STs or women.
He alleged that Modi only gives slogans and tries to adopt the policy of divide and rule by dividing the backwards, oppressed and the poor.
“PM Modi is not ready to give reservations to those who are poor, oppressed and belong to the backward classes. Thus, they have to unite and help achieve what they want,” he said.
“They try and divide and then rule by dividing the backwards and the Scheduled Castes,” he alleged.
Stressing the need for a socio-economic survey across the country, the Congress chief said the Telangana government has prepared a report and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is also conducting a similar exercise on its lines in Karnataka.
“Our people are doing, but Modi ji will not do anything. After Rahul Gandhi raised the issue, Modi ji has announced to include caste enumeration in the Census,” Kharge claimed.
Modi knows that the backward class people will rise sooner than later and snatch his chair.
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, he said the RSS has talked about retiring people after attaining 75 years of age and citing this rule, the PM ousted many veteran BJP leaders like L K Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi and put them in the ‘Margdarshak Mandal’.
“Now he (PM) is completing 75 years. When will he move out? That issue is also before us.
“Will he go? But Modi ji ousted all others. Modi ji has nothing to do with the country. He is only worried about his chair,” he said.
Kharge said he will speak in Parliament on Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor and the claims made by US President Donald Trump.
“But Modi ji is silent on claims made by Trump on bringing about a truce. If a person talks 25 times about bringing peace between India and Pakistan, then why are you not responding? If a person talks 25 times about mediating peace with Pakistan, why do you remain silent? “Do you not have a voice? Are you deaf or dumb, blind? What are you? You did not protect the country, nor do you provide social justice but just keep going to the RSS,” Kharge said.
He also alleged that the BJP wants to finish the poor and take away their voting power.
“I urge you to get united. There is a need for social justice in the country,” he said, asserting that this is the need of the hour and cited former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s words in this regard. PTI SKC/ASK SKC KSS KSS
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