Mumbai: Three days after the exit of former chief minister Ashok Chavan from the Congress to BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said some leaders have left the party which gave them everything. Mr Kharge addressed the party office bearers and legislators in a training camp of the Maharashtra Congress at Lonavala in Pune District via video conferencing. He said the Congress will have to fight not only against the BJP and RSS, but also against the agencies like ED and CBI.
Referring to exit of Ashok Chavan, Mr. Kharge said that it is very difficult for him to speak on the recent departure of the leaders to other side. “We gave everything (to Ashok Chavan), but he left the home,” he said.
Mr. Chavan, who is ex-Maharashtra chief minister, on Monday resigned from the primary membership of Congress and joined the BJP on Tuesday.
Mr. Kharge said that Congress still has loyal MLAs and party workers with grassroot connect. He further alleged that the BJP is misusing central agencies to pressurise opposition leaders and force them to join the saffron party.
“Last week, I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the budget session of the Parliament. I asked him why he is breaking my party every day. On my question, Mr. Modi replied that your people (Congress leaders) themselves are ready to come. I retorted that your people (BJP leaders) are making our leaders join your party by showing the fear of ED and CBI. After this, the PM went away laughing,” the Congress leader said.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making false promises, the Congress president said, “The PM always talks about Modi's guarantee. He is constantly telling lies, he is the master of lies. He has not fulfilled even a single guarantee given till date. In 2014, he had promised to bring back black money and give Rs 15 lakh to everyone, he had promised to create 2 crore jobs every year, to double the income of farmers. What happened to all these Modi guarantees?”
Reminding the gathering about the party's fight against the BJP, the Congress president said the party would have to fight Modi and BJP along with the central agencies. “Just as our battle is against Modi and BJP, we also have to fight against ED, CBI, Income Tax,” he said.
