Soldiers turned into 'pracharaks' of BJP: Kharge slams Modi govt

Kharge's stinging criticism came against the backdrop of the government's decisions to deploy senior officials as 'rath prabharis' in districts to 'showcase achievements of the last nine years' to promote govt schemes.

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday objected to the Narendra Modi government "turning" civil servants and soldiers to "political workers" and "marketing agents" of the ruling BJP, saying the whole administration has officially become "pracharaks" especially in the run up to elections.

Kharge's stinging criticism in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi came against the backdrop of the government's decisions to deploy senior officials as 'rath prabharis' in districts to “showcase achievements of the last nine years” and soldiers on annual leave tasked to promote government schemes.

“In both cases, of civil servants and soldiers, it is essential that government machinery is kept out of politics, especially so in the months leading up to an election,” he said.

At a time the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department and the CBI “already acting as election departments” of the BJP, he said the latest decisions “put the entire government machinery to work as if they are agents” of the ruling BJP.

“All agencies, institutions, arms, wings and departments are now officially 'pracharaks',” he said in the letter, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the two orders.

BJP president JP Nadda hit back at Kharge saying it "baffles" him to see the Congress have an issue with public servants reaching the grassroots to ensure saturation of schemes. 

“If this is not the basic tenet of governance, what is? Regarding opposition to a ‘Rath’ it is a fit use of public resources unlike using warships as personal yachts,” he said, adding Congress only has an interest in keeping the poor in poverty and hence their opposition to the saturation drive.

Referring to the direction to appoint Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary level officers as 'Rath Prabharis' in 765 districts to coordinate 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra', Kharge said it was in clear violation of the service rules, which directs that no government servant shall take part in any political activity.

“While it is acceptable for government officers to disseminate information, to make them 'celebrate' and 'showcase' achievements blatantly turns them into political workers of the ruling party. The fact that only achievements of the last nine years are being considered, gives away the fact that this is transparently political order in the run up to the five state elections and the General Elections of 2024,” he said.

Kharge also warned that the governance of the country will "grind to a halt" for the next six months if senior officials are deputed for “marketing activity” of the present government.

On the Ministry of Defence's October 9 order directing soldiers on annual leave to spend time on promoting government schemes, he said, “Their leave must not be hijacked for political purposes”, as they deserve “complete freedom” to spend time with their families after months or years of difficult services and restore energy for continued service.

“To force our soldiers to become marketing agents of government schemes is a dangerous step towards politicisation of the armed forces,” he said adding, the Army Training Command that should be focussed on preparing the soldiers to defend the nation is busy preparing scripts and training manuals on how to promote government schemes.

Emphasising that the armed forces should be kept out of politics in a democracy, he said the loyalty of the soldiers is to the country and its Constitution.