BJP, RSS unable to feel pain of farmers, says Kharge in Haryana

Chandigarh: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said since there was no farmer in the BJP and the RSS, they are unable to feel their pain.

He took a dig at the ruling BJP government for copying the Congress and asked, if the BJP was doing well in Harayana, why it needed to change its Chief Minister at the last moment.

Addressing public rallies at Charkhi Dadri and Hansi in Haryana, Kharge said the people of the state had resolved to return Congress to power.

He alleged the BJP had not only betrayed the people of the state but also reneged on all the promises. Referring to the BJP promise of providing five lakh jobs, he pointed out that there were already 1.5 lakh vacancies in the state, which it had not filled.

He said BJP’s promises were fake and false like depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account or providing 2 crore jobs every year.

Taking a dig at the BJP’s oft-repeated boasts about a “double-engine” government, he remarked that the two engines were pulling apart in two different directions and the train had got stuck. “If the government was doing so well, why did they need to change the Chief Minister?”

He said this was an admission on the part of the BJP that their government had failed and the Chief Minister needed to be changed.

The Congress President alleged the BJP and the RSS had never been sympathetic towards the farmers as there were no farmers in these organisations.

He pointed out that while the BJP government had waived off the Rs 16 lakh crore debt of big billionaires, it did not waive off a single penny of the farmers.

He said in contrast to this during Manmohan Singh’s government, the Rs 72,000 crore debt of farmers was waived off.

Kharge said PM Modi often tries to compare himself with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru but has not done a single thing like him.

He asked PM Modi and the BJP to name a single accomplishment of PM Modi like Nehru which ushered progress and prosperity in the country.

He reminded the people how the Modi government mistreated the farmers and women wrestlers from Haryana. He pointed out that 750 farmers died during a protest against the farm laws, while the women wrestlers from Haryana were brutally treated in Delhi when Modi was inaugurating the new Parliament building.

Making a plea to the people of the state to return Congress to power, he recalled the achievements of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government between 2004 and 2014. He said while the Congress left a financially surplus state, the BJP had incurred a debt of Rs 3.17 lakh crores during the last 10 years.

He reiterated the party's opposition to the Agniveer scheme, saying the jawans need regular jobs, and pensions and their families need social and financial security in case of any unforeseen incident.

He reiterated the seven guarantees of his party, including Rs 2,000 cash assistance to women, gas cylinder for Rs 500, Rs 6,000 social security pension, filling up of 2 lakh vacant posts, 100 square yard land with Rs 3.5 lakhs for construction of houses for the poor, 300 units of free power and Rs 25 lakhs health insurance cover for everyone.