KALABURAGI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, on Saturday broke his silence on not being invited to the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu and termed it “cheap politics”. Addressing reporters here, Kharge said the hosts should not have done politics on this matter.
On the special session of parliament convened by the Centre from September 18, Kharge said whenever the government calls a special session, it should take the leaders of opposition parties into confidence and inform them about the agenda. This sudden decision of the Centre came as a surprise to all opposition parties.
On the proposal for “one nation-one election” and the eagerness of the Union government to introduce it, Kharge said it will be very difficult to introduce as many legislative assemblies get dissolved before the end of their term and some get dissolved by the parliament.
For Cong, India and Bharat same: Kharge
When his attention was drawn to the statement of Tamil Nadu minister Udayanidhi Stalin against sanatana dharma and Karnataka ministers Priyank Kharge and G Parameshwara supporting it, he said, the Congress, as a political party, is now concentrating on uniting all non-BJP and like-minded parties.
At this juncture, Congress does not want to get involved in the controversy. “I will not mix politics with religion. Whenever a religious agenda comes up, we will debate on that at that time,” Kharge added.
He said members of I. N. D. I. A. have held three meetings and one more will take place shortly in north India. On sharing of seats between the members of I. N. D. I. A., he said it will take a long time to arrive at a decision. The parties have to first decide the constituencies where they are strong and then place their proposals before the core committee of I. N. D. I. A.
To a question, Kharge said the extended meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will be held in Hyderabad on September 16 and 17. On the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interest in renaming India as Bharat, Kharge said it makes no difference to Congress.
“We used to raise slogans such as Bharata Matha ki Ji. In fact, our pada yatra was named Bharat Jodo. It is Modi who has launched programmes in the name of India such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, etc. The coming together of about 27 opposition parties in the name of I. N. D. I. A. might have scared Modi and the BJP. Hence, they might be trying to create confusion among the people now. For the Congress, India and Bharat are one and the same,” he said.
On the possible tie-up between JDS and BJP, he said the nature of understanding between them is yet to be made known.
JDS calls itself a secular party, it should clarify on what basis it is having an alliance with the saffron party. The BJP-JDS alliance will not make any impact on the prospects of Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections, he added.
Asked whether he will contest LS elections from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi ) constituency, Kharge said that the party will take a decision on it.
SIDDU NOT TO ATTEND
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in Hubballi that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and it is wrong not to invite him to the G20 dinner. Though CMs of all states have been invited, those from Congress-ruled states have decided not to attend it as a
mark of protest. He too will not attend the event.