Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is greeted by Nagaland party chief K.K. Theri was honored with a bouquet. , Photo Credit: ANI
A coalition government will come to power at the Center in 2024 and Congress will lead such a coalition, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Said at a rally in Nagaland ahead of the assembly elections in the state on Tuesday.
“Modi [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] I have said many times, I am the only man who can face the country, no one else can touch me. No democratic man speaks like this. He should remember that you are in a democracy; You must remember that you are not an autocrat, you are not a dictator, you are elected by the people and people will teach you a lesson in 2024. A coalition government will come at the center, Congress will lead. We are talking to other parties, because otherwise democracy and the Constitution will go away.
Although no formal talks had begun, Mr Kharge said an informal dialogue was underway. He clearly said, “BJP will not get majority.”
Mr Kharge’s comments can be seen against the backdrop of the Congress’s repeated insistence on playing a central role in any kind of opposition coalition.
He also launched a scathing attack on the BJP by saying that the party, which talks of protecting democracy and the Constitution, adopted undemocratic tactics to topple elected governments.
“Let 100 Modis and Shahs come, we will never deviate from the path of democracy and the principles enshrined in the Constitution,” he said. He also claimed that the saffron party destabilized six or seven states ruled by non-BJP parties and came to power through the backdoor after luring away MLAs from rival parties.
The Congress-JDS alliance had absolute majority in Karnataka, he said. [BJP] Bought 17-18 MLAs, forced them to resign and eventually came to power. Be it Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Manipur or Uttarakhand, they adopted the same strategy everywhere to topple democratically elected governments.
Welcoming Mr Kharge’s comments, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar said at a press conference in Mumbai, “Congress is a big party, let them lead. We accept the leadership of Congress.