'Convenor Of Corrupt Alliance': Kharge On Modi

Source: IANS, PTI

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Opposition saying that all the “corrupt elements” have joined hands, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday hit back, accusing him of attempting an “image makeover”.

In a series of tweets, he asked, “Whose 20000 K crore is in Adani shell company? Are Lalit Modi, Neerav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallaya, Jatin Mehta, part of your ‘corruption-free nation’ campaign? And, are you the convenor of this alliance?”

“By projecting yourself as an ‘anti-crusader’, don’t try an image makeover,” he added.

In another tweet, he questioned why the Karnataka government is called the 40 per cent commission government and asked “why are you a part of the corrupt Meghalaya government? Are BJP leaders not involved in Rajasthan’s Sanjeevini scam, Madhya Pradesh’s Poshan scam, Chhattisgarh’s Nan scam?”

Accusing the Prime Minister of “misusing” the probe agencies against the opposition leaders, the veteran Congress leader stated that while the Enforcement Directorate has been unleashed on 95 per cent of the opposition leaders, the BJP leaders are given a clean chit.

“You speak about having a 56-inch chest, then prove it by constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the Adani issue.”

Notably, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi launched a scathing attack against the Congress and other like-minded parties, stating that some political outfits have started a ‘Bhrashtachari Bachao Abhiyan’ under which all corrupt elements have joined hands.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a residential complex and auditorium of the BJP on Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi, Modi said, “All the corrupt faces of India are now coming together on one stage. At a time when India is on the cusp of achieving great things, it is natural that anti-India forces inside and outside the country are coming together.”

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said on Tuesday that the Congress’ campaign following Rahul Gandhi’s “hasty disqualification” from the Lok Sabha is meant to safeguard democracy and highlight corruption in the country.

The former Union minister also reiterated the party’s demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the allegations against the Adani Group.

“Look at the sequence of events, which culminated in the hasty disqualification of Gandhi — who raised serious questions on the links between (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Adani in Parliament. Instead of getting answers, he was disqualified which we see as democracy-disqualified. Our fight is not for Rahul (Gandhi) but it is meant to safeguard democracy in the country. We will continue our protest to expose corruption and safeguard the interests of the common citizens, who are becoming victims of crony capitalism,” Maken told reporters at the Congress’ headquarters in New Delhi.

Gandhi was, on March 23, sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The two-year jail term triggered his disqualification as a Lok Sabha member from the date of the verdict.

Flanked by senior party leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee chief Vikar Rasool Wani, working president Raman Bhalla and chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, Maken said Gandhi is not fighting to gain control of power but to defend the country’s democratic institutions and its people.

Pressing for a JPC probe into the Adani issue, Maken said the government should respect the joint demand of the opposition as JPCs were set up twice in the past by previous regimes to make things clear.

“Why are they (BJP) afraid of setting up a JPC despite the fact that it will have the largest number of members in it? The JPC is a must to expose the connection between Modi and Adani and also to identify the shell companies that are directly linked to national security as there is a possibility of these companies having direct backing from China and Pakistan,” he said.