Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the Centre in his Republic Day message and said the country is witnessing constant attacks on the Constitution as it commemorates 75 years of adopting it. He charged the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is witch-hunting opposition leaders.
Extending greetings., Kharge remembered national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Ambedkar and other members of the constituent assembly. He also paid tributes to martyred soldiers, farmers and daily wagers.
Attacking the Centre, accusing it of constantly “attacking” the Constitution, the Congress leader said, “The ruling party has unleashed a continuous degradation of our institutions, built carefully over decades. Political interference in autonomous institutions has become a norm. Exercising control over their independence is being seen as a virtue of power. Federalism is being trampled on a daily basis and the rights of Opposition-governed states are being curtailed. The functioning of Parliament has seen tremendous backsliding due to the tyrannical tendency of the ruling government.”
Kharge charged there is constant interference in the functioning of universities and self-governing institutions. “A large part of the media has been converted as a propaganda tool for the ruling party. Strangulating dissent by witch-hunting opposition leaders has become the only policy of those in power,” he alleged.
He said minorities are being targeted in the country and underprivileged sections of the society are being treated as “second-class citizens”. “Atrocities and unheard-of violence against them have become a regular occurrence. Manipur has been burning for 21 months, but there is no accountability at the topmost echelons of power,” Kharge charged.
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Accusing the BJP of practising pseudo-nationalism, he said whistleblowers are being called 'anti-national'. “Crony billionaire friends are being handed over the country's precious resources,” he charged.
“When the failures of the Union government are pointed out, they either indulge in whataboutery or indulge in diversionary tactics, often invoking the past, but never the present. There is an inherent tendency to impose 'One Nation, One Party' on 140 crore different people, who believe in 'Unity in Diversity’,” Kharge lashed out.