Kharge accuses Modi of delivering 'poll speech' in Parliament; criticises Adhir Ranjan's suspension

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the debate on the no-confidence motion as an 'election rally' and said had he shed his arrogance by speaking on Manipur earlier, the valuable time of Parliament could have been saved.

He also condemned the suspension of Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Rajan Chowdhury and termed it 'undemocratic' and 'unfortunate' and that it 'reflects the arrogance of power and the maliciousness of authorities'.

"This tradition will prove very fatal for both the constitution and parliamentary democracy. We strongly condemn this," Kharge said in a post on ‘X’, a micro-blogging site previously known as Twitter.

"Thank you Prime Minister, At last you spoke in the House on the Manipur violence. We are sure that the pace of restoration of peace in Manipur will be faster, people from relief camps will return to their homes. They will be rehabilitated and justice will be done to them. Had you given up your stubbornness and arrogance earlier, the valuable time of the Parliament could have been saved. Important bills would have been passed with good discussion," the Congress chief said.

"We are pained that on an unprecedented issue like the Manipur violence, the opposition had to use a parliamentary weapon like a no-confidence motion. But you also used the House as an election rally," he also said.

In the last phase, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary was suspended, Kharge said, adding that 'this is very undemocratic and unfortunate'.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister's 'election speech' continued for more than 70 minutes in Parliament.

"Kept abusing INDIA. Adopting a defiant attitude, he refused to speak on the reasons behind the no-confidence motion, particularly on Manipur," he said.