Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, like the former prime minister Manohan Singh, is being remote controlled by the Congress high command.
Addressing three public meetings in the Bundelkhand and Gwalior-Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh, Modi said that people had given the Congress the opportunity to rule the country for 10 years from 2004–2014.
“But people were then not aware of what the then Prime Minister (Singh) was doing and what he was saying. Because he hardly had any work to do," he said, adding, "Earlier, the Prime Minister used to be remote-controlled; these days, the Congress president is being remote-controlled (by the Congress high command).”
The Prime Minister said that Kharge is a senior Congress leader. But he is in such a helpless situation that he cannot take any decisions regarding the functioning of the party. “Kharge is the namesake Congress president,” he said.
Modi also took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, without taking his name, for using derogatory language against women in the state Assembly while delivering a speech on population control.
Referring to the reported move by the Congress to complain against him to the Election Commission for announcing the extension of the free ration scheme by another five years, he wondered why the grand old party is upset with him for working for the welfare of the poor.
“I will do everything to ensure the continuation of the free ration scheme for 80 crore people for the next five years. Let them (the Congress) go to any court in the world against me,” he said, asserting that the BJP’s priority has always been the welfare of the poor.
Modi attacked the "INDIA" bloc leaders, saying that one prominent leader of the nascent coalition used "derogatory language" against women in the state Assembly, but none of them uttered a word despite such "disrespect" for women.
“Yesterday, one of the INDIA’s prominent leaders, who is moving around holding the bloc's flag and playing different games to dislodge the present government (at the Center), used a language that no one can even imagine using in a state Assembly in front of mothers and sisters. He did not even feel ashamed of it,” he said.
Modi was referring to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s speech on population control in the Bihar Assembly on Tuesday, in which Kumar vividly narrated how an educated woman can restrain her husband during sexual intercourse.
“Kitna neeche giroge (How low will you stoop)?” he asked.
Speaking at the rallies, Modi said that he is determined to continue his crusade against corruption in the country, which he had launched when he became the Prime Minister in 2014.
The Congress had created a corrupt system in the country, he said and claimed that he developed a mechanism by integrating Aadhaar numbers, cell phones and bank accounts called "Trishakti", to demolish the corrupt system.
The Prime Minister said that his demonetisation move, part of his anti-corruption crusade, has shattered the Congress and hence, the grand old party is abusing him daily.
“You abuse me. You do whatever you like. But, Modi will continue his crusade against corruption,” he dared the Congress.
He cautioned the people against the Congress, saying that the grand old party, if given a chance to return to power in Madhya Pradesh, will ruin the state. He accused the Congress of making false promises to the people to come to power in the state.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister addressed public meetings at Damoh in Bundelkhand and Guna and Morena in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
Madhya Pradesh is going to hold Assembly elections on November 17.
