AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday cautioned people that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is the “last chance to save democracy”, and added if Narendra Modi is elected again, he will continue to rule like Vladimir Putin in Russia.

“If Modi gets elected, there will be no more elections and he will continue like Vladimir Putin in Russia”, he said.

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Addressing a public meeting billed as ‘Odisha Bachao Samavesh’ here on Monday , the Congress president launched a diatribe against the BJP, RSS and the BJD.

PM Modi is very fond of always asking what we have done in seventy years, my response is that we gave adult franchise to everyone including women on the day we gained independence at a time when several countries had not given women the right to vote . This basic tenet of democracy is now under threat , he remarked.

Democratic institutions have been demolished. Voices of dissent are crushed with ED, CBI, IT raids and over a hundred Opposition MPs are suspended from passing important legislation, said the Congress president.

Kharge went on to chide the ‘Modi Guarantee’ tagline of the BJP by rhetorically putting questions to the crowd – who had promised 2 crore jobs per annum? who had said he would give Rs 15 lakh to every person by getting all the black money stashed outside the country ? who said farmers’ income would be doubled ? price rise will be controlled in 100 days, fuel prices will be slashed? .

These were the kind of Modi Guarantee that the nation had been given, he remarked.

There are 30 lakh vacancies in government jobs and Modiji does not fill them up only because the SC/ST/OBC will get a share and he does not want to empower them, charged Kharge.

The PM does not have the guts to go to Manipur, Nagaland and face the people.

The BJP and RSS spread hate, they believe in divide and rule , he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi embarked on a Bharat Jodo Yatra to spread love, peace and harmony. He is now on a Nyay Yatra which started from Manipur. No amount of threat is going to scare him, said the AICC chief.

He recounted the sacrifices of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and said they stood for national integrity and were never afraid of any threat.

Kharge underplayed the widening cracks in the INDIA bloc and claimed the desertion of one or two people would not weaken the alliance.

Cowards who get frightened by ED , CBI and IT raids and switch parties cannot protect the nation and the Constitution, he said.