NEW DELHI: Amid the raging row sparked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the Congress manifesto, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has written to him, saying that he “would be more than happy to meet you in person to explain our Nyay Patra”.
In an all-out attack on the main Opposition party, the Prime Minister has alleged that the Congress has a wealth redistribution plan that it will put in motion if it comes to power. Under this alleged plan, private property, including houses and jewellery, will be taken away and redistributed, he has said. Even mangalsutra - a jewellery worn by women as a sign of their marriage - won’t be spared, the Prime Minister has claimed.
In his two-page letter, he told the Prime Minister that he is being misinformed by his advisors about things that are not even written in the ‘Nyay Patra’ -- the Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.
In his letter, Kharge said the Congress’ ‘Nyay Patra’ aims at providing “nyay (justice)” to the youngsters, women, farmers, labourers and marginalised people across all castes and communities.
“It has become your habit to seize on a few words taken out of context and create a communal divide. You are lowering the dignity of the chair by speaking in this manner,” he said. The Congress chief also said he is neither shocked nor surprised by the language used by the Prime Minister in his recent speeches.
“It was expected that you and other leaders from your party would start speaking in this manner after you saw the dismal performance of the BJP in the first phase of the elections,” Kharge said.
The Congress has been talking about the deprived poor and their rights (“nyay”), he said and added, “We are aware that you and your government do not have any concern for the poor and dispossessed.”
“Your ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ works for the corporates whose taxes you reduced while the
salaried class pays higher taxes. The poor pay GST even on food and salt and the rich corporate claim GST refunds. That is why, when we talk of inequality between the rich and the poor, you are purposely equating it with Hindu and Muslim,” Kharge claimed.
“Our manifesto is for the people of India — whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist. I think you have still not forgotten your pre-Independence allies the Muslim League and colonial masters,” he charged. Kharge claimed that Congress has always served to empower the poor while “you have ruled to snatch the earnings and wealth of the poor”.
He said in the letter: “Your government was the one who used demonetisation as an ‘organised loot and legalised plunder’ to transfer the money deposited by the poor in the banks to the rich in the form of loans. Then, as part of a conscious design, these loans were surreptitiously written off by your government. The lakhs of crores of corporate loans that your government has written off since 2014 is a transfer of wealth from poor to rich. No farmer’s loans, artisan’s loans, MSME loans or student loans were waived off by you.”
“You and your government have repeatedly turned away from the atrocities that the poor and backward women are facing … Today, you talk about their ‘mangalsutra’. Isn’t your government responsible for the atrocities against women in Manipur, against Dalit girls, garlanding of rapists? When farmers are committing suicide under your government, how are you protecting their wives and children?,” Kharge asked.
The Congress chief suggested that Modi read about “Nari Nyay” that, he said, the party will implement when its comes to power.
Sharing Kharge’s letter on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji has just written to the Prime Minister, saying that he would be happy to meet him to explain the reality of the Congress’ ‘Nyay Patra’, which Mr Modi may have missed in his persistent efforts to distort and defame it.” with agency inputs