THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday unleashed a tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing that he is acting like a "petty politician".
He said after the first round of voting of the Lok Sabha polls got over, Modi became apprehensive of "invisible voters" which has led him to criticize the Congress party.
Talking to reporters at Indira Bhavan, Kharge demanded to know that if the Congress is nothing, why should PM Modi be this bothered
Kharge who reached Thiruvananthapuram late on Tuesday came to Indira Bhavan for the first time after becoming the Congress president more than two years ago.
The veteran politician recalled that Modi’s tall claims during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that all Indians would receive Rs 15 lakhs each in their accounts remain hollow.
Modi's new promise that 2 crore jobs would be generated is also going to remain a pipedream, Kharge said.
“Modi is frustrated. I have travelled 10 – 12 states for election campaigning and have been getting very good reports from the public and voters alike. I want Modi to read more about our country's history and learn how to keep the country united from divisive politics," the Congress leader said.
"Modi has got a huge washing machine," he said adding that when Congress leaders who joined BJP comes out of it, "they come out clean."
Referring to Modi’s hate speech in Rajasthan against the Muslim community, Kharge said that he has got five children and Lalu Prasad Yadav has got nine children.
“So, is it a particular community which has got maximum children? How can Modi say so? This is highly deplorable”, said Kharge.
The press conference held at Indira Bhavan also saw the two Congress candidates from Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal Lok Sabha constituencies, Shashi Tharoor and Adoor Prakash.
Tharoor's presence in the press meet, despite the fact that he had fought against Kharge in the Congress presidential election, showed that there are no permanent enemies in politics.
While Kharge eulogized Tharoor, he did not spare Rajeev Chandrasekharan, the BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.
“Tell me about one contribution Rajeev has made to Karnataka when he was an MP from there. The people of Karnataka thus told Rajeev, 'enough is enough' and asked him to prove his mettle in his home state," he said.
Speaking highly of Shashi Tharoor, Kharge said, "Tharoor has not only been a national figure, but an international personality, an excellent speaker in Parliament.. where we used to request him to speak about international affairs.”