NEW DELHI:Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the BJP and the BRS, claiming that both these parties will lose in the Assembly elections. Speaking exclusively to Deccan Chronicle, Kharge said, “We are very confident about winning all the five states. We will repeat our governments both in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
The people of Madhya Pradesh are fed up with the 18-year misrule of the BJP and are eagerly looking towards the Congress and our promises. The BRS will be defeated in Telangana.”
Charging the BJP with being “anti-poor”, the Congress chief declared that the BJP copies the Congress manifestos and presents them as “Modi guarantees”, adding, “But when the Congress announces welfare schemes, they term it as ‘revdi culture’.”
Accusing the Central investigative agencies of acting at the BJP’s behest, the Congress chief said, “We are continuously raising the issue of misuse of Central agencies like the ED, CBI, I-T. These agencies have been reduced to mere puppets of the BJP.”
Commenting on the language being used against political rivals in this election, Kharge said, “Modi has been abusing the Congress and our senior leaders since he was the Chief Minister. He has used crass language, vulgar expressions and demeaning references on a daily basis for many years.”
He then went on to add, “Modiji is extremely thin-skinned, (and) if even some reasonable criticism is directed at him, he then begins to play victim and sulks. But the truth is that it’s the BJP which vitiated the atmosphere in politics. We are not mute spectators. We can (hit back), but we are conscious of our role in public life and so we exercise restraint. But institutions like the Election Commission must ensure a level playing field for politicians irrespective of their parties.”
The polling in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan have already concluded. Telangana will go to the polls at the end of the month.
Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge have been extensively campaigning in all the states. The party is hopeful in retaining Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and winning the other three states.
The elections are also being seen as the semi-final before the all-important Lok Sabha polls next year. Kharge’s record in ensuring poll victories has been extremely good after he became party chief last year.
In the last one year the Congress has wrested the states of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka from the BJP.
