Bengaluru: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of failing on multiple fronts — from rising inflation to a weakened foreign policy — and saying the Modi-Donald Trump combination has harmed both India and the wider world.
Speaking at a rally where MLC B K Hariprasad took charge as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Kharge said Modi had abandoned India’s traditional non-aligned foreign policy and brought disrepute to the nation. “Modi is destroying India and Trump the world,” he declared, accusing the government of creating unemployment, spreading misinformation and breaking promises to workers, women and students.
Kharge also criticised what he called the saffronisation of education, alleging changes to the NCERT syllabus and appointments of teachers and university administrators with RSS links. He urged party workers to highlight Modi’s alleged failures to voters and reach out to farmers to “wipe out their tears.”
On internal party discipline, Kharge warned supporters — particularly backers of Chief Minister D K Shivakumar — against cult-like chants during party events. He said there was no place for “cult worship” at Congress gatherings and warned of disciplinary action after reviewing footage of the incident. Reflecting on his long career, Kharge added that the party had at times rewarded people whose contributions were limited.