New Delhi (TIP)- Kicking off the party’s campaign for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge on Sept 5 launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the collapse of Maratha Shivaji’s statue last month. They alleged that the statue collapsed because of corruption.
Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to Maharashtra on August 30, apologised to the 17th century Maratha king and his admirers over the statue collapse and said Shivaji was more like a god to him rather than a king or a great human being.
Addressing a rally at Sangli in Maharashtra, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said Modi should not only apologise to Shivaji but also to all Maharashtrians over the statue collapse within eight months of its inauguration at Rajkort Fort in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, on the occasion of Navy Day.
“Modi should say sorry to each and every citizen of Maharashtra for the insult caused to the legendary king when the statue at Rajkot fort collapsed on August 26,” said Rahul.
“I want to ask the Prime Minister what he is sorry for, is it because the contract to make the Shivaji statue was given to an RSS person who had no merit, or for the corruption in the process of its construction,” Gandhi said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the statue collapse was yet another instance of shoddy job done by the government in a hurry to impress people before elections. Kharge recalled that a bridge inaugurated by PM Modi in Ahmedabad also collapsed soon after it was thrown open for public. He said the Ram Temple in Ayodhya inaugurated by Modi with much fanfare also reported seepage after the monsoon rain. The two Congress heavyweights were speaking at a public meeting after inaugurating a life-size statue of late local party leader Patangrao Kadam. They said Kadam’s statue, inaugurated today, had been built by the well-known sculptor Sutar and it was going to last for a long time.
Rahul Gandhi said Modi resorted to demonetisation to wipe out small and medium industries and enable big corporate houses like Adani and Ambani to amass wealth.
Tag: Kharge
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Rahul, Kharge slam PM Modi over Shivaji’s statue collapse
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Remarks expunged, Kharge shoots off letter to Dhankhar
Taking exception to the expunction of certain remarks from his speech made in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, February 8, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday, February 9, shot off a letter to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, saying that it will be an “inversion of the system of governance” if Opposition MPs are to investigate, gather evidence and then raise issues in Parliament.
Dhankhar expunged Kharge’s remarks linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi with industrialist Gautam Adani and his charge that the PM remains silent on hate speech by BJP leaders.
Referring to Dhankhar’s direction to authenticate the charges with evidence, Kharge said Parliament was a platform to fix the accountability of the Executive and criticism of policies and decisions of the government should not be construed as allegations against any member of the House.
Kharge wrote that criticism of the government was natural in a parliamentary democracy. Arguing that there was no personal charge in any of his remarks, Kharge said an MP was required to authenticate only if any document was laid by the MP on the table of the House.
There was no convention of authentication of points made in a speech in Parliament, Kharge said. Any direction or rule of the House could not subvert the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech laid down for an MP through Article 105. “The member, after due diligence, draws the attention of the House to such issues and it is incumbent upon the government to investigate the matter and take appropriate action in consonance with the law of the land,” the Congress MP wrote.