Mallikarjun Kharge Archives - Lokmarg

We Are With Them: Kharge On Farmers Protest

By LokMarg 21st February 2024

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, expressed strong support for the ongoing farmers’ protest, declaring that the party stands firmly with them.

“We are supporting them (farmers). We are saying openly that their reasonable demands should be fulfilled. We are going to say this in our election manifesto also that a legal guarantee will be given. All crops cannot be covered but the essential crops should be done (providing MSP),” Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Reacting to the farmers’ protest, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he promised to double the minimum support price of farmers during the 2014 elections but did not fulfil it.

“The Prime Minister of our country had said in the 2014 elections that what mistake has the farmer made? Why should they not get the benefit of their crop? He had said that the support price of crops should be doubled. Five years passed, nothing was done. There were movements in the country several times, talks were held with the government to implement the MSP but not implemented,” Patwari said.

Earlier on February 20, Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJp for not implementing the recomendations of the MS Swaminathan report.

“In a country where bank loans worth Rs 14 lakh crore have been waived off, Rs 1.8 lakh crore corporate tax exemption has been given, why is even a little expenditure on farmers an eyesore? The guarantee of MSP will increase investment in agriculture, increase demand in rural India and farmers will also get confidence in growing different types of crops, which is a guarantee of the country’s prosperity. Those who are spreading confusion on MSP are insulting Dr. Swaminathan and his dreams. With the guarantee of MSP, Indian farmers will not be a burden on the budget but will become the drivers of GDP growth” Rahul Gandhi had posted on X.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said that the central government is ready to discuss all the issues raised by the Punjab farmers. He further invited the farmers for a fifth round of talks while urging them to find a solution through ‘dialogue’.

Minister Munda is one among the team of union ministers holding talks with the farmer leaders, including Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai.

Chaos broke out at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border as police stopped the farmers using tear gas and water cannon. The farmers leaders were seen wearing protective gears including masks, safety glasses and headphones to defend the resistive measures undertaken by the security forces. In resistance to the protests, the forces used tear gas shells, water cannons apart from the multi-layer barricading deployed at various borders of Delhi.

Earlier in the day, the general secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Sarwan Singh Pandher reiterated the demand for a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) and assured a peaceful approach going ahead. The farmer leader said that as the ‘Dilli Chalo’ resumed on Wednesday, only the leaders will be marching towards the national capital.

After the fourth round of talks ended in a stalemate, the farmers resumed their March on Wednesday morning. On February 19, the farmer leaders rejected the Centre’s proposal on MSP purchase, saying “not in farmers’ favour”.

After the Centre brought a proposal to purchase crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP), farmers leaders rejected the proposal saying that it had nothing for them. (ANI)

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Kharge Releases ‘Black Paper’ To Highlight BJP’s Failures

By LokMarg 8th February 2024

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge released the ‘Black Paper’ highlighting the alleged ‘failures’ during the 10-year rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.

The Black Paper comes even as the central government is ready to present a ‘White Paper’, to show that the country had plunged into the “fragile five” economies of the world during the 10-year of the previous Congress-led UPA regime (2004-14).

While releasing the Black Paper, Kharge said that it contains details about the failures of the BJP government including unemployment.

“We are releasing a Black Paper against the government because the government always glorifies itself in Parliament and hides its failures. And when we say something about their failure, we are not given a chance, so today we are bringing out the Black Paper here. It contains details about unemployment, which the BJP government never discusses,” the Congress chief said in a press briefing.

Referring to PM Modi’s 90-minute reply to the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Kharge said, “He (PM Modi) didn’t mention the employment generated by the public sectors like HAL, BHEL which were established during Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure.”

Kharge alleged that the Centre is discriminating against all the non-BJP ruled states and neglecting them.

“There is a danger to democracy in the country…In last 10 years, 411 MLAs were taken on their by the BJP. They toppled so many Congress governments. They are finishing democracy,” the Congress president said, sharpening his attacks against the Centre further.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, while speaking to reporters ahead of the commencement of the seventh day of Parliament said that a discussion on the White Paper is scheduled to be held in Lok Sabha today.

“When our Finance Minister presented the Interim Budget, she mentioned the White Paper. It is necessary to inform about the kind of economic situation they (Congress) had left for the country in 2014,” Meghwal said.

The government had announced in the union budget presented on February 1 that it will come out with ‘White Paper’ to compare the economic performance of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with that of 10 years of the BJP-led NDA government.

Tabling the interim budget 2024-25 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Modi government, which assumed office in 2014, overcame crisis of those years and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path,

“In 2014 when our Government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government did that successfully following our strong belief of ‘nation-first’,” she said.

“The crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development.”

She announced that the Government will lay a White Paper on the table of the House “to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years”.

“The exemplary track record of governance, development and performance, effective delivery, and ‘Jan Kalyan’ has given the government trust, confidence and blessings of the people to realize, whatever it takes, the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ with good intentions, true dedication and hard work in the coming years and decades,” she said.

The budget session, which is the last Parliament session before Lok Sabha polls expected in April-May this year, was slated to conclude on February 10. (ANI)

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Modi Mocks Kharge In Rajya Sabha

By LokMarg 7th February 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a jibe at the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and said that the Congress Chief was allowed to speak in the Upper House of the Parliament last week because two special commanders weren’t present.

Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister, “Mallikarjun Kharge ji spoke in Rajya Sabha for a long time and I was thinking about how he got the chance to speak for a long time and then I realised that two special commanders were not there so he took advantage of it and I think that Kharge ji must have heard that song ‘Aisa mauka phir kaha milega’,” PM Modi said.

PM Modi expressed his special gratitude to Kharge and said, “I could not say it that day but I express my special gratitude to Khargeji. I was listening to him with great attention and enjoyment that day. ‘Lok Sabha mai jo manoranjan ki kami thi voh aapne poori kardi’ (the lack of entertainment that we were missing in the Lok Sabha was fulfilled by him),” PM Modi said, apparently referring to the absence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi is leading the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

He also said he hopes Kharge’s prediction comes true. “I welcome the ‘400 seats for NDA’ blessing he has given us,” he said.

“Ek baat khushi ki rahi, unhone (Kharge) jo 400 seat NDA ke liye aashirwad diya hai…aapke aashirwad mere sar aankhon par,” the Prime Minister said.

Kharge in his remarks had referred to the Bharatiya Janata Party election slogan of “abki baar 400 par”. “With a current majority of 330-334 seats, this time it…will be above 400…,” he said, evoking smiles from BJP benches.

However, Kharge quickly added that BJP members have been elected due to PM Modi and the ruling party will not even cross 100 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Referring to Mamata Banerjee’s jibe that the Congress will not even win 40 Lok seats, he said he would pray for the party.

PM Modi said that President Droupadi Murmu, in her address, spoke about India’s potential, strength, and bright future. (ANI)

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Kharge Holds Meet With Bihar Leaders In Delhi

By LokMarg 26th December 2023

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with Bihar Congress leaders here on Tuesday to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Party General Secretary KC Venugopal was also present in the meeting.

Several leaders from the state attended the meeting.

Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh and newly appointed state in-charge Mohan Prakash, along with leaders like Ranjeet Ranjan, and Shakeel Ahmed, were among those present in the meeting.

After the meeting with Bihar Congress leaders, party chief Kharge took to X, and said that every worker of his party is ready to reach out to the people and live up to the aspirations of the people of Bihar for the progress, prosperity and peace of the state.

“The Grand Alliance government in Bihar is working firmly as per the expectations of the people of Bihar. We are committed to social justice. For the progress, prosperity and peace of Bihar, every Congress worker is ready to reach out to the people and live up to the aspirations of the people of Bihar,” he said.

Though the Congress-RJD-JDU-Left alliance is in power in the state, 17 of the 40 MPs in the state are from the BJP.

The opposition bloc INDIA has announced to contest the elections jointly. However, there is continuing suspense over a seat-sharing agreement between the partners in the opposition alliance.

Amid this suspense, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday that talks would be held with an ‘open mind’.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said, “Khule mann aur band muh se hi hum seat sharing pe baat aage challenge (We will carry forward seat-sharing talks with an open mind and refraining from public statements).”

The Congress leader added that different states would pose different challenges with regard to advancing seat-sharing talks and the discussions would hence be held, taking all aspects into consideration.

“The seat-sharing talks are ongoing and will continue. We will do what needs to be done. There are different conditions and challenges in different states. We will be having discussions on seat sharing, keeping in mind the different (political) realities there,” Ramesh said.

While the INDIA partners came together for their fourth meeting in the national capital recently, the potentially thorny issue of seat-sharing was left unaddressed. (ANI)

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INDIA Bloc Leaders Strategise For Day 2 Of Parliament Session

By LokMarg 5th December 2023

Ahead of the second day of the winter session, the meeting of INDIA bloc Parliamentary leaders was held at the office of the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

The meeting was called by Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Several leaders including AAP MP Raghav Chadha whose suspension was revoked in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, TMC MP Derek O’Brien, LoP in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Jairam Ramesh are present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday gave an Adjournment Motion Notice in the Lok Sabha and demanded a discussion on the death penalty for eight former Indian Navy personnel in Qatar.

“Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were sentenced by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023. I have been constantly raising this matter since August 2022 both inside and outside the House but the response of the Government has been – NO RESPONSE for -14 months,” Tewari said in his notice.

The Central government is set to move the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha later on Tuesday for consideration and passage.

Both the Bills, as per the list of business in the Lower House, are to be moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah for consideration.

According to the list of business, Shah is to move the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha further to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26, 2023. It amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004.

Meanwhile, the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament saw two bills being passed with the Rajya Sabha also deciding to discontinue suspension of AAP MP Raghav Chadha.

The Standing committee reports on ‘The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023’, ‘The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023’, and ‘The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023’ were tabled in the two Houses. The reports were submitted to the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on November 10 by Brij Lal, MP and Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. The three bills are on the agenda of the government for passage in the winter session of Parliament.

On Monday, Rajya Sabha passed the Bill to repeal the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 and to consolidate and amend the law relating to the post offices in India. The opposition members raised questions over some provisions of the bill and asked if the government wanted to create a “surveillance state”. The government rejected the apprehensions of the members.

The bill was passed by a voice vote after a reply by the Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. The bill provides that Post Office shall provide such services as the Central Government may by rules prescribe and the Director General of Postal Services shall make regulations in respect of activities necessary to provide those services and fix the charges for such services. The bill provides India Post will not incur any liability with regards to its services, except any liability prescribed through rules.

Lok Sabha passed the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which is in line with the government’s policy of repealing all obsolete laws or pre-independence Acts which have lost their utility. The Government in consultation with the Bar Council of India has decided to repeal the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879. It has decided to amend the Advocates Act, 1961 by incorporating the provisions of section 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 in the Advocates Act, 1961 so as to reduce the number of superfluous enactments in the statute book (ANI)

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Union, State Govts Must Fulfil Their Duties: Oppn Briefs Murmu On Manipur

By LokMarg 2nd August 2023

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who led a delegation of Opposition leaders to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday, said they briefed President Droupadi Murmu on ‘atrocities’ on women and the state of relief camps in violence-hit Manipur.

At a press briefing after meeting the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Manipur and work towards restoration of peace between all communities, especially the Kukis and Meiteis, inhabiting the state.
He informed further that the President assured that she would consider the demands put forward by the Opposition.

“A 31-member delegation from I.N.D.I.A, including those who visited Manipur recently, met President Murmu and briefed her on the prevailing situation in the state. We submitted a memorandum to the President and briefed her on the atrocities on women, the condition of relief camps or shelters and the overall situation in the state. The key demand that we put forward is that the PM visit Manipur and take steps towards restoration of peace in the state,” Kharge told reporters.

The floor leaders from I.N.D.I.A and the visiting delegation of 21 MPs in Manipur sought the intervention of President Murmu in bringing back normality to the state.

The memorandum submitted to the President by the delegation read, “We urgently request your kind intervention to establish peace and harmony in the state without any further delay. Both the Union and state governments must fulfil their duties to provide justice to the affected communities. We implore you to press upon the PM to urgently address the Parliament on the prevailing situation in Manipur, followed by a detailed and comprehensive discussion on the matter.”

Kharge informed further that he also briefed the President on the government’s unwillingness to discuss the Manipur situation with the President, invoking an incident in the Rajya Sabha where his microphone was switched off after 2 minutes, which he said shows that the government did not want democracy to function.

Kharge added that he also raised concerns over the smuggling of sophisticated weapons into Manipur.

“In the Rajya Sabha, my microphone was switched off after 2 minutes, which shows that they don’t want democracy to function in the country. Thousands of sophisticated weapons are coming (to Manipur). Prime Minister Modi should visit Manipur in the interest of restoring peace between the Meitis and Kukis. Merely issuing a brief statement is not the way to address the issue. This government is not allowing any discussion (in Parliament over Manipur) and is also not willing to listen,” the Congress leader said.

“Prime Minister Modi should visit Manipur and talk to the people there. He should bring peace to the state and provide relief to people affected by the violence,” Kharge said.

The Treasury and Opposition have literally been at war over Manipur since the Parliament convened for the Monsoon Session on July 20.

The continuing war of words resulted in repeated disruptions and adjournments in both Houses. (ANI)

Floor Leaders Of I.N.D.I.A To Meet RS LoP In Parliament Tomorrow

By LokMarg 24th July 2023

Floor leaders of the newly formed Opposition alliance the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) will meet at the office of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament on Tuesday to chalk out the strategy for the floor of the House.

The meeting of the floor leaders will be held at 10 am on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced adjournments for the third consecutive day.

The situation in Manipur dominated the proceedings of the third day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which began on Thursday, with the Opposition demanding the Centre to discuss the issue.

The Congress and opposition leaders are demanding a statement from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon session.

Earlier in the day, in Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar suspended Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh on Monday for the remainder of the monsoon session of Parliament for “repeatedly violating” the Chair’s directives.

The Chairman first named Sanjay Singh for interrupting the proceedings of the House when it had taken up the Question Hour amid protests by the Opposition over its demand for a statement from Prime Minister on the Manipur violence and a detailed discussion on the issue.

Lok Sabha also witnessed protests and sloganeering from opposition members over their demand for a discussion on the Manipur situation and a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (ANI)

26 Party Oppo Alliance To Be Called ‘I.N.D.I.A’: Kharge

By LokMarg 18th July 2023

India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or I.N.D.I.A will be the new name of the alliance of 26 Opposition parties who met in Karanataka capital Bengaluru, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Tuesday.

“We will meet again in Mumbai to discuss the details on seat sharing and campaign management,” Kharge said adding that a joint statement will be circulated shortly.
“We have come together to save this grave situation in the country,” the Congress leader said.

The Opposition parties met to chalk out a strategy to put out an united front to take on the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

Prior to Kharge’s announcement Bihar chief minster Nitish Kumar headed JD(U) took to Twitter to post the same.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore said on Twitter, “INDIA will win.”

“Chak De! INDIA,” tweeted Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien.

The current Congress-led alliance is called United Progressive Alliance (UPA). (ANI)

Sonia, Kharge, Rahul Arrive At Bengaluru Ahead Of Joint Oppn Meet

By LokMarg 17th July 2023

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and party leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Bengaluru to take part in the two-day meeting of opposition parties.

Meanwhile, they were received by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and other senior leaders of the party.
Earlier, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Singh and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko also arrived at Bengaluru airport.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “…2/3rd of the population is going to defeat BJP. I hope that the people of the country will give BJP a massive defeat…I am receiving inputs from all corners of the country that the BJP will be wiped out…”

Congress has rallied support from 26 parties for the second opposition unity meeting to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The first opposition unity meeting was held in Patna last month.

The formal opposition meeting will take place on Tuesday. The meeting will start at about 11 am and will continue till 4 pm.

The opposition parties are seeking to put up a united front against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

An informal meeting is scheduled at 6 pm after which there will be dinner at 8 pm.

According to sources, the name of the opposition alliance will be decided, and the common minimum programme may also be discussed in the Bengaluru meeting.

Several committees are expected to be formed which will hold meetings to deliberate on various issues pertaining to the alliance. Various groups and sub-groups may also be formed. (ANI)

If We Win Bihar, We Can Win Across Country: Kharge

By LokMarg 23rd June 2023

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday addressed the party workers at Bihar State Congress office Sadakat Ashram and said that if the party wins in Bihar they can win across the country.

Senior party leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader KC Venugopal were also present at the party office ahead of the Opposition leaders’ meeting.
“If we win Bihar, then we can win across the country,” Kharge said while addressing the party workers in Patna.

He also appealed to the people to unite and work in favour of the country and its democracy.

“I appeal to you to come together despite differences and work in favour of the country and its democracy. We must take forward what Rahul Gandhi has started,” he said.

The party office is covered with posters and banners of Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and other leaders.

The Congress leaders reached Patna to attend the Opposition leaders’ meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with an aim to arrive at a consensus to forge a united Opposition front to take on the BJP.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar welcomed Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge on their arrival.

Leaders of Opposition parties from across the country are set to meet in Patna to chalk out a strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Opposition picked Patna as a venue for its meeting as it represents the 1974 call of total revolution by Jayaprakash Narayan that toppled Indira Gandhi’s majority government.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti were among the leaders who reached Patna ahead of the meeting. (ANI)