'BJP snatching away people's rights': Congress chief Kharge targets PM Modi at party's foundation day

New Delhi: Asking party workers to unite with the spirit of 'Dandi March' and 'Quit India' movement to save MGNREGA, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday targeted the ruling BJP claiming that those whose ancestors played no role in the freedom movement are now engaged in snatching away people's rights.

Addressing the 140th Foundation Day of the party, he said that those who think that the Congress is "finished" must know that "our spine is still straight" though the party may not be in power.

Insisting that the Congress has not compromised with the Constitution, secularism and rights of the poor, he said, "we may not be in power, but we will not bargain. Congress has never sought votes in the name of religion...never spread hatred between temples and mosques. The Congress unites. The BJP divides. The Congress kept religion as faith, but some people turned religion into politics."

"Over the past 11 years, the BJP government has amended several laws to benefit a handful of capitalists. MGNREGA has been destroyed, and the plunder of water, forests, and land continues. The government is playing with fake data, and to hide the truth, the Census has still not been conducted," he said.

Recalling that Mahatma Gandhi prepared the Congress to work on issues such as social reform, opposition to untouchability, economic self-reliance, equal rights, and resistance to communalism, he said the vision of the Congress has always been expansive but national wealth, along with water, forests, and land, is “under threat in Modi regime” that has weakened institutions built by the Congress.

He said the framework of Fundamental Rights prepared by the Congress in 1931 became part of our Constitution but today, both the Constitution and democracy are under threat.

"RSS–BJP leaders did not accept the Constitution, the Tricolour, the Ashoka Chakra, or even Vande Mataram. They opposed laws meant for social progress and are intent on crushing the rights of the people earned through sacrifice and struggle," he said.

"Those whose ancestors played no role in the freedom movement are today engaged in snatching away the rights of the people. We must firmly resist such attempts at every level," he said a day after the party decided to launch 'MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan' from January 5 next year.

He asked Congress workers across the country to unite with one voice and go among the people to save MGNREGA. For this, he said they must mobilise with the spirit of the Dandi March and the Quit India Movement. "We will compel the government to restore MGNREGA in the interest of the poor and the vulnerable," he said.

Admitting that the party has witnessed ups and downs in 140 years, he said, "the Congress is an ideology—and ideologies never die. That is why I say: this is not a fight for elections alone. This is a fight for the soul of India. The Congress is fighting this battle because if the Congress does not fight, who will protect the Constitution? Who will safeguard democracy?"