‘Wrong policies have pushed youth into dark road’: Congress attacks Modi government

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi-led government of crushing the aspirations of young people, avoiding questions in Parliament and pushing youth towards protests through its policies.

Speaking at Indira Bhavan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address, Kharge said peaceful protest was a constitutional right and students raising their concerns should not be labelled anti-national.

“The government’s wrong policies have pushed the youth into a dark road,” Kharge said, alleging that the government had neither the funds nor the ideas for schemes capable of driving the country forward.

Kharge also questioned the absence of Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Parliament when the Opposition raised concerns over alleged police action against students during protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

“I and the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, have been continuously raising questions about the brutality inflicted on students and youth, but the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have not come to the House,” Kharge said.

He also accused the BJP of taking credit for development carried out under previous Congress governments.

‘90% contribution to development is Congress’

Kharge claimed that much of India’s development was the result of Congress governments and accused the BJP of taking credit for their work.

“We improved people’s financial condition, not change names. But these people just take credit. This will not go on for long,” he said.

Kharge cited the Congress-led introduction of the Right to Food, Right to Education and Right to Work, alleging that the current government had not introduced comparable initiatives.

He also raised the issue of alleged theft of offerings at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and questioned the government’s handling of the matter, noting that the temple trust had been appointed by the Prime Minister.

Kharge further accused the government of interfering with institutions including the Election Commission, Enforcement Directorate, CBI and the media. He alleged that people aligned with the RSS were being appointed to educational institutions and organisations such as ISRO and DRDO.

BJP, Congress spar over Vande Mataram

Meanwhile, the BJP accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of objecting to the singing of the full version of Vande Mataram at the party’s Independence Day event.

BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh shared video footage on X and said, “Mother, son and national president (of the Congress) seem to be upset by the rendering of full Vande Mataram.”

The Congress rejected the allegation. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no attempt to stop the full version of the national song from being sung.

Ramesh said Gandhi was merely asking for a chair for Kharge because the Congress president had been standing for a long time.