Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha, saying that the poor 2024 election results have shattered the arrogance of the BJP leader.
He further said that those who called Congress and INDIA bloc arrogant have been taught a lesson as 17 ministers from the last government lost the elections. "You call us arrogant, but you forget that 17 of your ministers from the previous government lost the elections," he told the ruling coalition in the Upper House.
"PM Modi said that people do not want slogans; they want substance. The opposition has been saying this for the last 10 years: 'Don't just raise slogans, do some work,'" he said.
During the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress President remarked that the President's speech attempted to mask the government's shortcomings.
He accused PM Modi of using divisive rhetoric during the elections, claiming no other prime minister had done so before. Kharge also criticized Modi for associating the Congress party's 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto with religion, asserting that the people have responded decisively to the prime minister's tactics.
Commenting on the NEET exam paper leak, Kharge said it was a serious injustice to students. "In the last seven years, there have been 70 paper leaks, putting the future of 2 crore Indian youth in doubt."
Regarding the Union government targeting states led by the Opposition, Kharge criticized the government, saying, "Chief Ministers from the INDIA bloc are being jailed."
He also urged the Rajya Sabha chairman to restore the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, and other leaders to their original positions in the Parliament complex.
"After the political and moral shock in the elections, Modi and the BJP are pretending to respect the Constitution, but the truth is that the three laws of the criminal justice system that are being implemented from today were forcibly passed by suspending 146 MPs. INDIA will no longer allow this 'bulldozer justice' to run on the Parliamentary system," Kharge wrote on X targeting the newly formed laws.