Kharge confident of INDIA bloc’s clear majority in LS polls

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc will secure a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls and give the country an inclusive and nationalistic government.

People have endorsed their view that “it will be the end of democracy if the current government gets another chance”, Kharge said. He was addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on the last day of campaigning for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls slated for June 1.

According to him, PM Modi spoke about ‘mandir-masjid’ and divisive issues 421 times during the poll campaign despite the Election Commission’s direction of no appeal for votes on caste and religion.

He also said Modi in his speeches in the last 15 days took the Congress’ name 232 times and his own name 758 times. He didn’t talk about unemployment even once, Kharge claimed.

“We are confident that people will give a mandate for an alternative government on June 4,” the Congress chief said.

Kharge also took a swipe at the prime minister over his comments in an interview that global awareness about Mahatma Gandhi came after Richard Attenborough’s film, saying he may not have studied about Gandhi but the Mahatma is known the world over.

“Narendra Modi said he came to know about Mahatma Gandhi after watching the film ‘Gandhi’. This is laughable, perhaps Narendra Modi has never read about Gandhiji. The whole world knows Mahatma Gandhi, his statues are there at different places in the world, including in the UN,” Kharge said. If Narendra Modi does not know about Mahatma Gandhi, he would not know much about the Constitution either, he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the INDIA bloc will get a “decisive mandate” in the Lok Sabha polls and may take even less than 48 hours to decide on its prime ministerial pick.

He asserted that it stands to reason that the party which gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a “natural claimant” for its leadership.

In an interview with PTI on the last day of campaigning for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls, the Congress general secretary exuded confidence that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get seats “well above” the 272-mark needed for a majority in the Lower House. Ramesh said the difference between INDIA and NDA is of two I’s -- I for ‘insaniyat’ and ‘I’ for ‘imaandaari’. Those parties that have ‘imaandaari (honesty)’ and ‘insaniyat (humanity)’, but are in the NDA, will join the INDIA parties, he said.