Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said today that provocative slogans like ‘Batenge Toh Katenge’ (If We Are Divided, We Will Get Slaughtered) and ‘Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain’ (We Are Safe Only If We Are United) are raised by the BJP merely to divert people’s attention from real issues.

“BJP gives inciting speeches and speaks lies in order to divert people’s attention from core issues,” he alleged at a press conference in Nagpur.

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He said while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has raised ‘Batenge Toh Katenge’ (If We Are Divided, We Will Get Slaughtered) slogan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the call of ‘Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain’ (We Are Safe Only If We Are United). “First you decide between yourselves about whose slogan will be followed – Yogiji’s or Modiji’s,” Kharge asked.

He said that efforts are on to paint anybody who waves the Constitution of India as an “Urban Naxalite” simply because the cover of that book is red in colour. Adding that the Constitution’s cover could be of any colour, the Congress chief displayed a photograph showing the PM Modi himself gifting a copy of the Constitution with a red colour cover to former President Ram Nath Kovind.

He spoke about how his party has implemented all its guarantees given to voters. He compared the Congress record of implementing its promises with the BJP’s “jumlas” (bluff) like bullet train which is yet to run and even the bridge constructed for it collapsed. “Sometimes the new Parliament develops water seepage in monsoon, sometimes the newly constructed Ram temple develops leaks,” he quipped.

He recalled how the Multimodal International Cargo Hub And Airport (MIHAN) which was initially supposed to come up in Nagpur was diverted to Gujarat. “Has the BJP generated employment? What is the point in simply diverting projects from Nagpur to Gujarat,” Kharge asked.

He also spoke about how two big BJP leaders (Nitin Gadkari and Devendra Fadnavis) from Vidarbha failed to stop big investments going out of the region to Gujarat since they are concerned only about saving their own posts and do not have anything to do with the people’s interests.
“Why have you punished the people of Maharashtra? What crime have they committed,” he questioned.