Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be remembered as someone who “indulged in divisive and communal speeches filled with lies to avoid an inevitable defeat”, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said in a letter to Mr. Modi. He also rebutted the various charges levelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing election campaign.
The letter has been framed as a response to Mr. Modi’s missive to the BJP candidates asking them to spread awareness among voters about the Congress’s intention to snatch “reservation from SC, ST, and OBC communities and give it away to their vote bank”. Mr. Kharge urged Mr. Modi to seek votes on the performance of his government over the last ten years instead of indulging in “hate speeches”.
“Our vote bank is every Indian - the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis,” he asserted. Redirecting blame on the BJP, he said, that “everyone knows it is the RSS and BJP who opposed reservations at every stage since 1947” and want to change the “Constitution to end reservation.” BJP leaders, he said, have openly spoken about it. “You need to clarify why you are opposed to reservation to SC, ST, and OBCS on the basis of their population as per Article 16 of our Constitution,” he wrote.
He also sought to rebut the debate on wealth redistribution that was kicked off by comments of Congress leader Sam Pitroda on the issue. The Congress has distanced itself from Mr. Pitroda’s comments and Mr. Pitroda too has said that he was only citing the U.S. inheritance law as an example. “Your letter lies that Congress wants to bring Inheritance Tax when it is your former finance minister and your party leaders who have repeatedly mentioned they want inheritance tax. People can see these speeches and comments of your leaders online,” Mr. Kharge wrote. Taunting Mr. Modi, he said, that his letter belies the BJP’s worry about the low turn out of the voters in the first two phases of elections. “It shows people are not enthusiastic about your policies or your campaign speeches,” he said.
