Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has taken serious exception to his father and All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge being projected as a leader of the Dalits and not that of whole society.
Responding to media queries on his father being made the head of INDI Alliance and some parties within the Opposition block projecting him as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as he hailed from a Dalit community, Mr. Kharge asked why his father is being projected as a leader of a particular community.
“Why do you confine my father to a particular community when it comes to the issue of projecting him as a chief ministerial or prime ministerial candidate? Does it mean that he is not efficient? Don’t you see efficiency in these communities [Dalits]? Do you always want him to have his community tag? It is not correct. When you give status to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, you don’t see his community. Instead, you say that he is efficient. It is a different matter that we have, for the last 10 years, seen how efficient he is,” Mr. Kharge said.
He also reiterated his father’s words that the immediate task before the INDI Alliance is not to discuss on its prime ministerial candidate but of winning as many seats as possible in the next Lok Sabha elections to assume office at the Centre.
“Winning as many seats as possible in the next Lok Sabha elections is the immediate task before the INDI Alliance as a whole and the individual parties within it. At present, we don’t have the question of choosing the prime ministerial or deputy prime ministerial candidates. The Congress has set a target of winning around 250 seats and helping the other parties to win the maximum seats,” Mr. Kharge said.
Asked about the recent security breach at Parliament, he asked the Union government to publicly name those who got the other two passes issued to the intruders apart from those issued by BJP leader and Lok Sabha member from Mysuru Pratap Simmha.
“As you say, there were four intruders. Mr. Simmha got passes issued for two of them. What did you do to those who got passes issued for the other intruders? Have you enquired them and taken their statement? Did Mr. Simmha give statement before media or in Parliament? Where is he? Who got the passes issued for the other intruders? Some people are saying that another BJP MP arranged the other two passes. Let the government disclose his name,” he said.
“Whenever there is such an issue as serious as the recent security breach, either the Prime Minister or the Home Minister voluntarily make a statement. Why are they not giving any statement on this? Is it wrong to seek it? BJP MP from Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav doesn’t have any sense. When the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have themselves said that it is a serious security breach and as many as 141 MPs have been suspended in connection with the issue, Mr. Jadhav has said that there is no need for enquiring Mr. Simmha. Does he have any responsibility?” he said.
To a question, Mr. Kharge said that both the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) are reeling under a serious crisis of internal fights.
“The BJP is divided into three factions under the leadership of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, R. Ashok and B.Y. Vijayendra. When we asked BJP leaders to discuss issues related to drought in the winter session of the Legislature in Belagavi, they preferred to discuss some irrelevant issues such as Assembly elections in Telangana. This is their seriousness. One of them called for a walk-out and the other asked to launch a strike in the Well of the House. One said that he is the Leader of Opposition and the other claimed that he is the real Opposition Leader. I think the BJP has not just three but hundred factions,” Mr. Kharge said.
