You are the ones dividing people, cutting them off: Kharge slams BJP

In response to BJP’s ‘batenge to katenge (Divided we perish)‘ slogan, the Congress president took historical references from Ambedkar, Jyotibha Phule, Savitribai Phule and Jawaharlal Nehru to take a dig at the BJP; listed out schemes and promises that would be implemented if his party was voted to power

“It’s the BJP which divides people and cuts them off,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said in a retort to BJP’s slogan “batenge to katenge (Divided we perish)”.

At a rally in Umred of Nagpur on Sunday (November 17, 2024) for the November 20 Maharashtra elections, he targeted the BJP over the “drop” in minimum support price (MSP) and control of cooperative banks and highlighted the projects brought to the State by the Congress.

While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath originally used the slogan “batenge to katenge”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently altered it to “ek hai to safe hai (unity brings safety)“. Referring to this slogan, Mr. Kharge said that it was not Dalits, adivasis, OBCs or minorities who engaged in divisions. “Dalits, adivasis, OBC, minorities are not the people who divide. These are people who want a good govt that protects them,” he said.

The Rajya Sabha member said the constitutional values that Dr. Ambedkar built along with late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were being destroyed. Taking a dig at the BJP politicians’ claim of being patriotic, he said, “Who finished Gandhi using a bullet?  What kind of a patriot are you if you killed Gandhi? How will they [such people] protect you [people]?”

‘Drop’ in MSP and control of cooperative banks

Raising various farmers’ grievances, Mr. Kharge said the MSP for soya beans had dropped in Maharashtra. “MSP is ₹4,500 for soya bean. But now it’s selling for ₹3,000. Is the (State) government sleeping? This is because the government is scared of Modi,” he questioned.

He also said that the BJP was taking control of cooperative banks. “The rich people got their [currency] notes changed at the cooperative banks and kept them safe during demonetisation. This is why Amit Shah has been given cooperative banks.  This is the first time a Home Minister is also the Minister for cooperatives,” he said.

Highlighting the flight of projects from Maharashtra to Gujarat, Mr. Kharge said that all the development that had come to Maharashtra had been built not by Mr. Modi but by Mr. Nehru, referring to projects such as Hirakud and Bhakranangal dams.

‘If not for Congress, you’d still be a tea seller’

Besides highlighting the projects brought to Maharashtra by the Congress, Mr. Kharge listed the party’s contribution to the nation beginning from the freedom movement and the framing of the Constitution. “You’ve become the PM because we have contributed or else you would still be a tea seller,” he said, cancelling the BJP’s line that ‘Congress had not done anything in 70 years’.

He further said that the BJP was ruling by invoking fear and the daily advertisements with Mr. Modi’s picture on them reminded him of Hitler’s propaganda machinery.

Hitting out at Mr. Modi’s appeal to adivasis, the Congress veteran questioned why the PM had not yet visited Manipur’s adivasis while he could ‘go all around the world.’

Campaigning for Maha Vikas Aghadi’s Umred candidate Sanjay Narayantao Meshram, he called on people to “teach BJP a lesson”. “You have already taught some lesson to Modi in the Lok Sabha election by not giving [BJP] majority. Modi is standing on two artificial legs – Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh. If the two are taken out, Modi will be powerless,” Mr. Kharge said. He reiterated the Congress’s promises of farm loan waiver and unemployment wages for youth among a host of such promises in the party’s manifesto.

Published - November 17, 2024 09:57 pm IST