The Congress president claims the prime minister is disturbed over the Epstein files; he surrendered to Trump’s pressure
NEW DELHI – Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for indulging in lies in Parliament. He said the prime minister lacks courage and his morale is broken; that is why he didn’t show courage to speak in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress leader also strongly refuted the prime minister’s charge that the Congress had insulted Sikhs, pointing out that it was the Congress that had given the country its first Sikh prime minister.
Responding in a video on Friday to Prime Minister Modi’s reply to the discussion on Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Kharge alleged that he (the PM) lacked the courage to answer the questions raised by the opposition. He said the government was deliberately stalling the functioning of the Parliament so that it would not have to respond to important issues raised by the Opposition.
Kharge alleged that the prime minister’s speech was full of “repeated falsehoods”. He maintained that Modi avoided important issues and did not reply to a single question raised during the discussion on the President’s Address.
Refuting the government’s claim that the autobiography of former army chief Manoj M Naravane was not published, he said, it was very much available everywhere. He pointed out that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh straightaway denied the existence of the book instead of replying to the issue being raised by Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Kharge criticised the prime minister for trying to distort the facts about the conversation between Rahul Gandhi and Ravneet Bittu, MP. Rejecting the prime minister’s charge that Congress insulted Sikhs, he said, the Congress had appointed Dr Manmohan Singh as the first Sikh prime minister of the country.
Taking a dig at the government’s claims on intelligence inputs and advising the prime minister to avoid speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Congress president asked why such intelligence fails when terror attacks take place in the country, people get lynched, and Dalits and Adivasis are targeted. Minorities and churches are attacked. Instead of strengthening internal security, Modi is making false claims about his security.
“They fear Rahul Gandhi—what questions he will raise, what facts he will bring. That is why the prime minister often does not even sit in the House. They claim ‘intelligence inputs’ advised him not to reply. If your intelligence is so effective, where was it during Pulwama? When lynchings were taking place across the country? When atrocities were committed against Dalits and minorities, when churches were vandalised—where was your intelligence then? Instead of strengthening internal security, you misuse ‘intelligence reports’ to avoid parliamentary accountability. This shows a disturbed and unhealthy mindset. Frankly, he needs treatment”.
Maintaining that Modi’s morale had broken, he said he was afraid of facing the Lok Sabha. He pointed out that the treasury benches repeatedly stalled the Lok Sabha proceedings. He said the prime minister was also disturbed over his name having cropped up in the Epstein files. He alleged that Modi had surrendered to US President Donald Trump, who forced a trade deal that would harm Indian farmers and benefit American farmers.
The Congress chief also took a jibe at the prime minister’s oft-repeated claim of being a chaiwala.
“Modi even said, ‘They (opposition) will dig my grave.’ Let me be clear—we are talking about burying your ideology, not any individual. The Congress never targets a person; it critiques ideas. But he personalises everything—saying, ‘I am poor, I am a tea seller, I am backward.’ These are diversions,” Kharge said.
The Congress chief strongly lashed out at Modi for his baseless criticism of the country’s first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, saying he is the founder of modern India who laid a strong foundation for India’s progress, in contrast to Modi, who, he said, lacks both vision and ideology.
