president 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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Special Session Of Parliament Was Not Called When Manipur Was Burning: Kharge

By LokMarg 1st September 2023

A day after the Narendra Modi government has called for a “special session of Parliament” to be held from September 18 to 22, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday attacked the central government for the move and said the special session of Parliament was not called when Manipur was burning adding that the country is “going towards dictatorship”.

“Today, without asking anyone in the opposition, a special session of Parliament has been called. A special session of Parliament was never called even when Manipur was burning, during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the issue of China or over issues of demonetisation and migrant labourers,” Kharge said while addressing a press conference after the INDIA alliance meeting.

“I don’t what is the agenda now. This is not the way to run the country. We are slowly going towards dictatorship,” he added.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday informed that a five-day special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22. The agenda for this special session, however, was not revealed.

Congress President further stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will never work for the poor and that the aim of the INDIA bloc is to fight against unemployment, rising fuel prices and other public welfare issues.

“All parties conducted this meeting well. A structure was formed for the alliance during talks at my residence earlier, in the Patna meeting an agenda was set and now in Mumbai, everyone has kept their views before each other. Everyone has one aim – how to fight unemployment and rising fuel prices and LPG cylinder costs?” he said.

“They (BJP) first increased the prices and reduced the price marginally…I can say that Modi ji will never work for the poor. Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi showed a report on how Adani’s income has increased,” he added.

After the meeting of the Opposition INDIA alliance, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said that a resolution has been passed and four main committees have been formed.

“We have passed some important resolutions too. INDIA Alliance Coordination Committee – a 14-member committee – has been structured,” Raut said.

The 14-member Coordination Committee and Election Strategy Committee includes KC Venugopal (INC), Sharad Pawar (NCP), TR Baalu (DMK), Hemant Soren (JMM), Sanjay Raut (SS-UBT), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Raghav Chadha (AAP), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Lalan Singh (JDU), D Raja (CPI), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), one more member from CPI(M) to also be announced.

Earlier, the constituent parties in the Opposition INDIA alliance on Friday decided to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election together “as far as possible”, said the alliance’s resolution taken during its third strategic meeting being held in Mumbai.

The resolution also said that the parties will “organize public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance”.

The third formal meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA alliance began on Friday with the aim of coming up with an action plan for the next Lok Sabha Polls.

The first meeting of the joint opposition was held in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. (ANI)

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)