Patna: Ahead of Bihar assembly election, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday sought to trigger a political firestorm by alleging that BJP had forced Bihar chief minister and JD (U) national president Nitish Kumar into 'mental retirement’, and also accused BJP of considering him a ‘burden’.
Claim Made By Congress President Mallikarjun Khare
Making his opening remarks at the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Patna, Kharge claimed that the internal dispute within the NDA had come to the fore, as BJP had forced Nitish into ‘mental retirement’ and also considered him as a liability. He alleged that the BJP formed the NDA government in Bihar last year by getting support of Nitish again but the ‘double engine’ government's promise of development proved hollow as no special package from the central government was received. “Nitish government promised development, but Bihar's economy is lagging behind,” he remarked.
Congress president alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to steal votes across the country. “Similar to Bihar, a conspiracy is now being hatched across the country to steal the votes of millions of people. Vote theft means theft of rations, pensions, medicine, children's scholarships, and exam fees belonging to Dalits, tribals, backward classes, extremely backward classes, minorities, the weak, and the poor.”
He said that Voter Adhikar Yatra had raised awareness among the people of Bihar, as they had extended their overwhelming support to Rahul Gandhi. He contended that the foundation of democracy was fair and transparent elections but now serious questions were being raised about the fairness and transparency of the Election Commission itself. “Revelations have been made in various states, and instead of answering those questions, EC is demanding an affidavit from us,” he added.
He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Uttar Pradesh government banned caste-based political rallies. He said that Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who considers himself the successor to Prime Minister, did the most bizarre thing as after writing an article against reservations, he had banned caste-based rallies in his state.
“Will Prime Minister tell the country that on one hand, we are all talking about conducting a caste census, and on the other hand, your chief minister is talking about jailing those who take to the streets in protest against the injustice and atrocities committed against them,” he added.
Kharge said that a caste survey was conducted in Bihar when the grand alliance was in power, as the reservation quota was increased from 50 percent to 65 percent in jobs and higher education institutions. "I want to ask Modi what compelled him to fail to secure constitutional protection for the hiked reservation quota," he asked.
“History bears witness that the Congress government granted constitutional protection to 69 percent reservation for the people of Tamil Nadu thirty years ago. The double-engine government failed to do this here (in Bihar),” he remarked.
