Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in politics of intimidation and trying to topple the JMM-led government for the last five years.
The statement assumes significance with IT surveys held last week in the residences of personal secretary to chief minister Hemant Soren and at nearly nine locations across Jharkhand and the subsequent freezing of bank accounts.
“Prime Minister Modi has been trying to topple the government for the last five years. Right now during the elections, ED and income tax department are harassing the alliance partners,” said Kharge addressing an election rally at Chhatarpur in Palamu district which goes to polls on November 13.
“Modi-ji believes in toppling governments. He purchases MLAs. Unka kaam MLAs ko bakri ke jaise apne pas rakh lena, palna aur fir baad me kaat kar khana hai (Modi pets MLAs like goats, feeds them and later feasts on them). This is Modi,” Kharge alleged.
Taking a dig at Modi, Kharge said, “The Prime Minister is saying that if we are united, we are safe, then Yogi is saying that if we are divided, we will be cut. First, he should decide which of the two slogans will work. The BJP’s intention is to break the unity of the country and to run an authoritarian style of government.”
The Prime Minister had on Sunday addressed a rally at Gumla and advised the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Adivasi communities in the state to stay united, saying, “Ek rahoge toh safe rahoge. (They will remain safe if they remain united),” and accused the Congress of trying to divide the OBC, SC for electoral gains.
Kharge was confident of coming to power in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
“We will form the government in Maharashtra too and our coalition government will be formed in Jharkhand as well,” said Kharge.
FIR against BJP
Acting on a complaint from the Congress regarding “false and misleading” videos posted by the Jharkhand BJP, the Ranchi police on Sunday lodged an FIR and wrote to the social media platforms concerned to remove the posts.
The Congress alleged that the posts were trying to unduly influence voters in the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections. The videos were allegedly shared on the “BJP 4 Jharkhand” handle and allegedly targeted leaders of the INDIA bloc. The video featured actors resembling Hemant Soren, Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav.
Election in Jharkhand is being held in two phases on November 13 and 20 and the counting is on November 23.
