LS polls fight not against Modi but against 'Manuwadi' ideology: Kharge

Nagpur, Apr 14 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was not a fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but against the "Manuwadi" ideology of the ruling dispensation.

Addressing a poll rally for Congress' Nagpur Lok Sabha candidate Vikas Thakre, who is pitted against Union minister and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari, he said his party was fighting to save Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution that safeguards the rights of 140 crore Indians.

"Thakre is not a high profile candidate but a ground level worker. He has been selected to defeat Manuwadi ideology (thought process based on the contents of Manusmriti). The 2024 Lok Sabha polls is not a fight against Modi or Gadkari but against Manuwadi ideology," Kharge asserted.

If the RSS-BJP wins, there will be no elections henceforth and they will finish the Constitution, Kharge claimed.

The Congress worked for the country's freedom but now Modi asks what the party has done in the past 70 years, he said.

"The RSS did nothing during the freedom struggle but now they come asking for votes in the name of Ram Temple and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Leave alone a photo of Ambedkar, these people did not even keep the national flag in their offices," Kharge alleged.

The youth do not know the history of these organisations and are only misled by Modi's falsehoods, he further said.

Under Modi, the GDP of the country was growing at 5-6 per cent, whereas it was 8-9 per cent during UPA rule, Kharge said.

"Modi calls the opposition corrupt but his party inducts tainted leaders. The BJP is a laundry where the corrupt are inducted by Modi, put in for washing by Amit Shah and taken out (clean chit) by Gadkari," the Congress president said.

People got the right to vote after the Constitution was drafted due to the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Ambedkar, he said.

"The Congress' manifesto is all inclusive and will take care of the poor, backwards, farmers and all sections of society," Kharge said.

Kharge said Modi was bringing religion into politics and attacking the Congress for "declining" the invite to the idol consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

The invite was for just two persons, Sonia Gandhi and himself, Kharge added.

"Modi says we are against Ram as we did not attend the idol consecration. I want to ask him if my people (Dalits) have entry into temples, schools etc. This is the system in your rule. How can I go alone when Dalits, backwards and poor are not allowed? You insult me by saying I did not come but did you invite my party," Kharge questioned.

Kharge said the ruling dispensation had insulted Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by not letting former president Ramnath Kovind lay the foundation stone of the new Parliament complex and not inviting President Droupadi Murmu to the Ram Temple idol consecration or for the Parliament inauguration. PTI