Dictatorship in India is inevitable if PM Modi is re-elected: Mallikarjun Kharge in Bhubaneswar

The upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections may be the last general election in the country if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is re-elected, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in Bhubaneswar.

The Congress president was addressing a party rally in the capital city of Odisha.

"This will be the last opportunity for the people to save democracy in India. If Narendra Modi wins another election, there will be a dictatorship in the country. The BJP will rule India like Putin in Russia," news agency PTI quoted Kharge as saying in the rally.

Urging the people to keep away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideologue RSS, Kharge said they are "like poison". The Congress president further said, “The responsibility of saving the Constitution and democracy and holding elections again and again rests with the people.”

The Congress chief said the present government under PM Modi is being run by threatening states and leaders of the opposition.

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"Notices are being served to the leaders and ED and Income Tax have become weapons to grind the political opponents," Kharge claimed.

The Congress president alleged that the opposition leaders are threatened to leave their parties and alliances if they oppose the ideologies of the BJP and the RSS.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was frequently threatened as he opposed the BJP and the RSS, Kharge noted.

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"However, Rahul Gandhi did not come under their pressure and continues to fight against such forces that are out to divide the nation," the Congress president said.

On the JD(U) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returning to the NDA leaving the Congress camp on Sunday, Kharge claimed that it will not have any impact on the polls.

 “Some individuals commented that the alliance suffered a setback with the departure of one person. Does the country weaken when one person exits? No. Likewise, the alliance would not be weakened by the departure of one or two individuals. We will emerge even stronger,” Kharge said. 

Describing PM Modi as a “habitual liar” the Congress president accused him of misleading the people by assuring 2 crore jobs every year and ₹15 lakh money in every Indian’s bank account.

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Referring to Modi’s jibe at Congress’s achievements during the last 70 years, Kharge said: “You (Modi) become the chief minister of Gujarat and now the PM because the Congress had held the democracy and Constitution high. But you are now destroying the basics of democracy and the Constitution.”

He said the Congress has given rights to women, Dalits, tribals and the downtrodden by properly implementing the Constitution.

Claiming that Odisha's ruling BJD and opposition BJP have solemnised a "love marriage", Kharge alleged that the two parties are looting Odisha and oppressing the poor people of the state.

He claimed that while the BJP and the BJD are only with rich people, the Congress always stands by those who are poor.

Asking the people what the Modi-Naveen Patnaik combine has given to Odisha, Kharge claimed that the Congress gave Paradip Port, Rourkela Steel Plant, Chilka Naval Academy, Mancheshwar Rail Coach Factory, HAL, Ordnance Factory, AIIMS and several educational institutions to the state.

“But today Patnaik ji, along with the BJP, is allowing the natural wealth here to be looted,” he alleged.