CHITRADURGA: “Take note of Karnataka’s pride and vote a Congress government to power in 2023,” said AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge at the ‘Aikyatha Samavesha’, an event organised for the SC/ST community by the Grand Old Party on Sunday.
Addressing the mammoth gathering here, Kharge noted that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Gujarat and called himself the son of the soil, people went and voted for him. “Now it is the turn of Kannadigas to vote for Congress, since I come from this state, and I appeal to you,” added the AICC president.
Jobs for SC/STs, OBCs
Attacking the Union government on the jobs issue, Kharge claimed that there are 30 lakh vacancies in the government sector across India, of which 15 lakh belong to the SC/ST and OBC categories, as per constitutional reservation. However, the BJP knows that if these jobs are filled up, the SC/STs and OBCs will be empowered and their game-plan will not work, hence they are not filling up these posts. “A majority of highly-qualified graduates are sitting idle at home. The Centre, instead of giving them permanent jobs, is filling them on the basis of outsourcing, which is totally wrong,” he further claimed.
The Congress president further said that going by the assurance of PM Modi in 2014, 18 crore jobs should have been created by now, but this has fallen flat. The Congress will question the BJP on all platforms. Kharge further alleged that the Centre has stopped scholarships for SC/STs and minorities and minimum support price, while farm income has not doubled too. Various other problems are gripping the country, which have to be pointed put and questioned.
Meanwhile, Kharge also accused the BJP of curtailing the right to expression, terming it anti-constitutional.