ED, CBI, I-T raids in Chhattisgarh can’t demoralise Congress workers, we’ll win there and in M.P.: Kharge

Congress President Kharge said raids by central agencies in Chhattisgarh won't demoralise their workers, asserting the party will win in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. He criticised PM Modi for questioning the Congress' contribution to the country's development and recalled the vision of former PMs Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Shastri. Kharge also praised the NREGA scheme and the 'Green Revolution' for making India self-reliant in food grain production.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the recent raids by central agencies in Chhattisgarh can’t demoralise their workers, asserting that the party will win the assembly elections there as well as in BJP-governed Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Kharge was addressing a public meeting at Katangi town in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district of M.P.

“I was in Chhattisgarh yesterday (Friday) and the force of Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Shah (Union Home Minister Amit Shah) was also there. Through ED, CBI and I-T raids they want to terrorise our party workers so that they sit in their homes.

“They are thinking that Congress workers will sit at home and get demoralised due to these raids, but it won’t happen. The Congress is certainly going to win in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

The Congress has been accusing the BJP-led Centre of weaponising the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax (I-T) to target its government in Chhattisgarh through various raids.

The Congress president said Modi had once strongly criticised the “NREGA scheme”, a rural job guarantee initiative, but the same programme helped the government in providing employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Kharge said their party brought about the ‘Green Revolution’, which enhanced farm productivity, in the country to make it self-reliant in food grain production, and claimed that the current government is able to provide free ration to lakhs of people because of that vision of the earlier Congress governments.