HUBBALLI: All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has exhorted the poor and underprivileged, regardless of caste, class, or religion to fight the Narendra Modi government to protect their rights, the Constitution, and freedom.
Addressing a convention held here on Saturday to distribute 42,345 houses to the poor and handover title deeds to 20,275 slum-dwellers across the State, Kharge said that, “If we want to teach a lesson to such a foolish government, everyone must work together. All poor people should unite, set aside caste, clan, and religion, and build the strength to fight for their rights. Only then will we be able to protect the Constitution of this country and our freedom.”
Otherwise, he said, freedom would be lost, the Constitution would be lost, and all of us would again be forced to live like slaves. By weakening the MGNREGA, the Union government has been trying to keep workers in a state of slavery.
Stating that the previous UPA governments enacted rights-based laws and that MGNREGS had ensured the Right to Work, the AICC chief charged that Modi and his people have brought laws that take away rights. They want to do everything for two or three rich people, he said.
He said the Congress would not allow implementation of the VB-G RAM G Act. “We will not give up. Just like Modi was forced to withdraw the farm laws, we will ensure that the MGNREGA remains as it is meant to be”.
Kharge then cautioned, “In any upcoming election, whether it is small or big, the people must unite against the BJP. If they show that strength, they will survive, the poor will survive, the middle class will survive, and small traders and businesspeople will survive. Otherwise, I firmly believe that a permanent ruler like Hitler, Mussolini, or Saddam Hussein will come to rule our country”.
Taking serious objection over the approach of governors towards the states run by non-BJP parties, Kharge alleged that governors say they are acting on instructions from the offices of the Prime Minister and Home Minister. Charging that the governors have been turned into puppets by the Modi government, he said, the former do not even sign bills meant for good work and instead send them back.
Kharge said that the Congress has always believed that the nation comes first. For the BJP it is the RSS first, the BJP first, then the nation and the Constitution.
Hailing the Siddaramaiah government’s move to distribute houses to the poor he said, “No one else can do this. Only those who genuinely care about the poor can do such work, like the Congress. If you expect this from the BJP, it will be impossible.”
Look at other parts of state too: Kharge to ZameerAICC president Mallikarjun Kharge asked Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan to focus on providing houses to beneficiaries in other parts of Karnataka, too, and not just cities.
“Zameer has suggested that in some places, houses are built on 30x40 plots in villages, while in the cities, space is given more and less in some places. I will tell Zameer to concentrate everywhere... this is our Karnataka. From Belagavi to Kolar, from Bidar to Mysuru, everyone should be provided with housing,” he added.