Exuding confidence over the outcome of the Lok Sabha poll, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said after forming a government at the Centre with an absolute majority, the INDIA bloc would give the country an “inclusive nationalistic developmental” government.
The Congress chief was addressing a press conference at the party headquarters on Thursday, the last day of campaigning for the seventh and the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
He said, “We believe that on 4th June, the people will give a mandate to a new alternative government in the country. INDIA alliance will form a government with a full majority. We all along the lines of UPA will give this country an inclusive nationalistic developmental government. We will move forward taking everyone together.”
On the new prime minister, Kharge categorically said the choice would be based on consensus among the constituents of the INDIA coalition. “We will call everyone to take everyone’s opinion, what the people of the alliance say, based on that the decision on the prime minister will be taken.”
“During the tenure of UPA (United Progressive Alliance), all the people of the alliance asked Sonia Gandhi ji to become the prime minister; she did not, and made Dr Manmohan Singh the prime minister. Therefore, our intention is to take all together,” he said.
Referring to the works of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, the Congress chief said, “When Dr Manmohan Singh was the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi ji was the chairperson (of the UPA), they brought schemes for the poor which benefitted them.”
Stepping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, “Yesterday, Prime Minister Modi ji told the whole world that he came to know about Mahatma Gandhi ji after watching Richard Attenborough’s film. We do not see anything surprising in this. Obviously, if he had known about Mahatma Gandhi ji earlier as the whole of India and the world knew, then he would have talked about the Constitution, Swaraj, non-violence, development, the poor and Dalits and India.”
He further said, “During this entire election, Modi ji showed nothing but his ignorance towards Mahatma Gandhi ji and India. Modi ji has no interest in truth. During his campaign, Modi ji spoke about temples, mosques, and dividing the society 421 times. He also used words like Muslim and minority 224 times. But the Election Commission did not take any action on this.”
Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, alleged, “Modi ji and the top leaders of the BJP made countless efforts to mislead the people on religious and divisive issues. Despite this, people chose and voted on their issues instead of diversions.”
“This election for the 18th Lok Sabha will be remembered for a long time. In this election, every citizen of the country, irrespective of their caste, religion, and region, came forward to save democracy and the Constitution.”
The Congress chief appealed to the people to vote for the INDIA bloc to save democracy and the Constitution in the last phase of Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to be held on 1st June.
In response to a question on the proposed meeting called by the INDIA bloc on 1st June, Kharge said it is an informal meeting to deliberate on steps that need to be taken on the counting day (on 4th June).