'11 years, 33 mistakes...': Mallikarjun Kharge slams Modi for 'lying, deceiving youths' during his tenure as PM

Kalaburagi: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that the Modi-led NDA government has hatched a conspiracy to divide the Congress party through the central investigating agencies. Kharge was responding to the raids conducted by Enforcement Directorate on Ballari MP and three MLAs in connection Valmiki Corporation scam.

Addressing the press here on Wednesday, the Congress chief said that it is unjustifiable to harass the party leaders by raking up the issue a year after the Lok Sabha elections.

Accusing the BJP of targeting Congress MLAs and MPs through the ED raids, he said Modi government cannot create rift in the Congress and the party stays united.

Kharge also lashed out at Narendra Modi and slammed him for 'indulging in lies, deceiving youths' during his 11 years of tenure as PM.

"It has been 11 years and 33 mistakes have been committed. You are aware and I have been saying it in parliament too. I have never seen such a PM who indulged in telling lies, deceiving youths, securing votes through implicating the poor during my entire political career."

Condemning Modi for keeping Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker's post vacancy, he said that it should be assigned to the recognized opposition party like Congress party did during his tenure.

"This move is illegal and Modi is not giving even a small post to the Opposition. This shows he has no faith in democracy. I have written a letter to him in this regard," he said.

Coming back to the ED raids, Kharge said, "The party will not comment on it until the thorough probe is undertaken in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation (KMVSTDC)," Kharge said.

"We are waiting to know how the Enforcement Directorate will give a twist to the scam. The issue of funds misappropriation is left to the central agency and we will not interfere in the investigation. Everyone knows about who and how much money is spent in the polls. It is not new to conduct such raids. But, it is impossible to divide Congress party through such raids," the Congress veteran asserted.

No cabinet expansion

Kharge also clarified that there will be no immediate cabinet expansion or reshuffle in the state and only few issues including Bengaluru stampede have been discussed during the meeting with the CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar in the presence of the senior party leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.

Justifying the government's decision to conduct a fresh caste census in the state, he said that this is essential as the earlier survey was 10 years old and also many castes have been inducted into OBC, SC and ST category during the last one decade. "The government has already adopted socio-economic criteria in the caste census. The other criteria, which are left out, will be added for the new survey", he added.

Bengaluru Stampede

Reacting to the Bengaluru stampede incident and BJP demand for CM Siddaramaiah's resignation, Kharge asked whether Uttar Pradesh CM has done it after a similar tragedy befell the Kumbh Mela earlier this year.

"The stampede is an unexpected incident for which an apology has been sought. But, we should stand with the family members of the victims and take proper care that such incidents do not occur in the future," he said.