At the mega-gathering of Opposition parties in Kolkata on Saturday, Congress's leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said party president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi had sent their good wishes for the rally organised by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Congress’s national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi was also present at the rally.
Mr. Kharge read out a message from Ms. Sonia Gandhi that said a crisis was looming over the country, with farmers and fishermen living under immense strain.
Under the BJP-led government, the economic and political institutions of the country were being undermined. The coming Lok Sabha polls would be fought for restoration of democracy in the country, he said.
“Till we [Opposition parties] unite, we will have to continue seeing Modi and Shah trample on democracy and the secular values of the country,” he stated.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oft-repeated statement “ na khaunga na khane dunga ” [neither will I eat nor allow anyone to eat], Mr. Kharge wondered what Mr. Modi was actually doing. “He himself is not eating, but he is allowing Adani, Ambani and his corporate friends to benefit,” he said.
Going by Mr. Modi’s promise of creating two-crore jobs every year, 9.5 crore jobs should have been created by now. Instead, the government had rendered 1.6 crore people jobless, he alleged.
Referring to demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), he said the two measures had triggered an economic crisis in the country.
At the end of his speech, Mr. Kharge said in Hindi, “ Manzil door hain, rasta kathin hain, phir bhi pahuchna hain. Dil mile na mile, kamse kam haath mila kar chalo [The destination is far and the road is difficult but still, we have to reach there. Whether our hearts meet or not, we should walk holding hands].”
After Mr. Kharge’s speech, Ms. Banerjee thanked Ms. Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi for their good wishes for the rally and for sending the two senior party leaders to the function.
Aim is to form a secular govt: Abhishek Singhvi
Mr. Singhvi hailed the rally, saying the aim of the rainbow alliance was to defeat the BJP and form a secular government at the Centre.
“Never before have we seen such vendetta politics...When Amit Shah did 100 rallies in Uttar Pradesh, no one questioned, but when the RJD [Rashtriya Janata Dal] organised a rally, it got an income tax notice,” he said.
(The Congress is an ally of Lalu Prasad’s RJD in the ’mahagathbandhan’ [Grand Alliance] in Bihar.)
Accusing the Union government of indulging in “cheap politics”, Mr. Singhvi said the biggest beneficiary of vote division was the BJP.
''Mr. Modi makes fun of the Opposition alliance, but his party made the most unethical alliance in Kashmir. What would he say about it?,” Mr. Singhvi said.
