The All India Congress Committee (AICC) president M. Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi for questioning the contributions of the Congress since Independence and observed that his party was uniting the country while the BJP was trying to divide India.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was testimony to what the Congress has been doing to bond the country and its people, and he has a long list of what his party and leaders have done for the country in the last 50 years, said Mr. Kharge.
In his address at the launch of Gruha Lakshmi scheme in the presence of Mr. Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, AICC general secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, and senior party leaders and Ministers, here, he said Mr. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had derided the Congress’ guarantees and the BJP leaders expected Karnataka would go bankrupt by implementing the guarantees.
“Mr. Modi should have seen what the Karnataka government has done in the last 100 days and the kind of response it received from the people to its schemes like Gruha Lakshmi. But, Mr. Modi doesn’t acknowledge others’ achievements,” the Congress president remarked.
Claiming that the BJP was replicating the programmes that the Congress gave in the past in a new avatar, he said Mr. Shah, in Chhattisgarh, demanded a report card on the Congress’ achievements in the last five-six decades. “Do I need to tell what Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and also Sonia Gandhi (as leading the Congress party) did for the country?” he asked.
The BJP has no other job but to criticize the Congress. His party’s contributions to the education and health sectors are significant if the rise in literacy rate and life expectancy are an indicator, Mr. Kharge argued.
Stating that 65% of women are educated and the credit should go to the Congress, the Congress president said the literacy rate among minorities, SCs/STs rose when his party was in power.
Arguing that Karnataka has a better governance and development model than Gujarat, Mr. Kharge said the number of primary schools went up from 2 lakhs to 8 lakhs in the country. “Is it not development?”
Complementing the Siddaramaiah government for successfully launching four guarantees, he said the fifth guarantee will also be launched soon. “The government will fulfill all its promises.”
Referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said none can intimidate Mr. Rahul Gandhi, who has been attacking the NDA government at the Centre. “Show me which leader has done what Mr. Gandhi did. He travelled over 4,000 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to unite the country.”
