Never mentioned PM’s father in my speeches: Kharge

Kharge: Modi distorting facts; Congress united, BJP disintegrated. Kharge: Modi's jumla, falsely accused him of mentioning father. Vadra: BJP only works for rich, Congress for all. Congress winning in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh; Rajasthan to progress for 5 yrs. Rich getting richer, poor poorer under BJP.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of distorting facts, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on November 20 said he had never mentioned his father in any of his speeches. Mr. Modi’s false allegation against him was yet another jumla (locution), as it was so characteristic of the Prime Minister to twist the things, Mr. Kharge said.

Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh, Mr. Kharge said Mr. Modi, despite being in power for 23 years, first as the Gujarat Chief Minister and later as the Prime Minister, was still fond of “crying victimhood” to gain public sympathy. “Beware of such hypocrites and their hypocrisy. It is very dangerous,” he said.

Mr. Modi had accused Mr. Kharge at a public meeting in Nagaur on Saturday of making derogatory remarks about his deceased father. He referred to the Congress president’s comments in Hyderabad, where he had described both the Prime Minister and “his baap [father]”, referring to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, as liars. Mr. Kharge said Mr. Rao did not have the money to fulfil his promises.

Commenting on Mr. Modi’s claim that he was the son of a poor man, Mr. Kharge said his own father was a labourer and he had joined politics to serve people rather than dividing them. The BJP was dividing the people in the name of caste and religion, he said.

The Congress president said his party was not bothered about the abuses hurled by Mr. Modi on leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and himself. “Congress leaders believe in sacrificing their lives for the nation, whereas the BJP believes in taking the lives of others,” he said, while asking who had killed Mahatma Gandhi and where were Nathuram Godse’s supporters.

Taking a dig at Mr. Modi for accusing the Congress of corruption, Mr. Kharge said the BJP was inducting all the tainted leaders from other parties. “Amit Shah has a big washing machine in which all these tainted leaders are put and they come out clean”, he said.

In Ajmer, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shot back at Mr. Modi’s remarks that the Congress leaders were running out each other. Ms. Vadra said at a public meeting that the BJP was “already out by hit-wicket”. “The Congress believes that the people, not the governments, who own the country’s assets. The wealth should be utilised for their welfare,” she said.