Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “jhoothon ka sardar”, recalling how he had deployed “lies” as a political tool to malign the opponents and fool the people.
Addressing a public rally in Chhattisgarh, the Congress president referred to false and unfulfilled promises, untruthful claims and blatant lies to buttress his argument that Modi was a “king of liars”.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his deputy T.S. Singhdeo also dwelt on the same theme at the rally, lamenting that it was saddening to brand the Prime Minister a liar but Modi’s conduct presented compelling reasons for calumny.
Kharge said: “Modi’s main obsession is to throw mud on the Congress. Instead of presenting his vision for people’s welfare, he abuses the Congress. Wherever he goes, he only tries to defame the Congress and rain lies on the people. Hamesha jhooth bolte hain. Jhoothon ke sardar hain who (He always lies, he is the king of liars).”
Arguing that they have come to this conclusion on the basis of experience in the last nine years, Kharge said: “He promised two crore jobs every year and forgot it. We could have ignored this, thinking this was an aberration. He said Rs 15 lakh will come in every account. We would have forgotten that too. He said farmers’ income will be doubled. One lie after another.”
He added: “Modi says the Congress is opposed to women’s reservation. He takes credit for things he didn’t do. He says the Congress is dividing the society, indulging in anti-national activities. All our Prime Ministers worked to empower people, to lift the people out of poverty. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives for the country. And he is lecturing us on patriotism? Beware of this jhooth ke sardar.”
The Congress leaders focused on the “lies” on Wednesday because of Modi’s persistent claims that the Centre was purchasing every grain of paddy in Chhattisgarh while the credit went to the state government.
Addressing the same rally, Baghel said: "Modi said the Centre was purchasing the entire paddy. Labari maaris ki nai maaris? (Did he make a false claim or not?). When was the bonus for farmers stopped? Was it not when Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014 and Raman Singh was the chief minister?”
He added: “The BJP government used to procure 10 quintals per acre. We increased this and now we will procure 20 quintals per acre. In 2014, the procurement was 50 lakh metric tonnes. In the last four years under our government, the procurement has increased to 107 lakh metric tonnes. In 2023, it will be more than 125 lakh metric tonnes. Modi lies ceaselessly. He said there was a scam of Rs 1,300 crore in cow-dung purchase. The total purchase is worth Rs 271 crore. It is not expected of a Prime Minister that he will come to the state and trigger a rain of lies. We are pained to say this but Modi only lies.”
Asserting that the Congress schemes were designed to help the poor, he said: "We deliver what we promise — that’s the Chhattisgarh model. Money goes to the people’s hands in the Chhattisgarh model. We don’t follow the Gujarat model where money goes into Adani’s hands. Mines of Chhattisgarh have gone to Adani under the Centre’s Gujarat model. Modi said the Nagarnar Steel Plant will not be allowed to go into the Congress's hands. We don’t want it. But don’t privatise the PSU. If the Centre doesn’t want it, let the state run it. Why hand it over to private players?”
Singhdeo said: “The Centre’s contribution in the record paddy purchase in Chhattisgarh is not even worth half a paisa. But Modi is repeatedly telling lies. How can a person who lies like this become the Prime Minister? He is lowering the prestige of the country by frequently resorting to lies. The state government is paying Rs 2,500 per quintal for paddy and this has been increased to Rs 2,680 per quintal from November 1 when the next procurement will start. The people have to choose between a government that delivered on each of its promises and a party whose leader lies.”
Kharge also questioned Modi’s intense campaigning in state elections, wondering why he was roaming around in every locality and gully if he was so popular. “He went to every nook and corner of Karnataka but the BJP lost. He campaigned intensively in Bengal and lost. Same in Himachal. He is going to lose the next five states as well. He won in 2014 and a second term in 2019. But the people have now seen through him. They know they will suffer if they opt for the Gujarat model. He is talking of guarantees. His guarantee is unemployment, higher prices and suffering.”
