Modi an existential threat to India’s plurality, says Kharge

Congress chief slams the PM for his ‘muscular Hindu majoritarian nationalism and anti-Muslim politics’; however, he dodges questions on dierences between the Congress and Left in Kerala

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seems hesitant to identify the Left Democratic Front (LDF), an INDIA bloc partner at the national level, as the Congress’ main rival in the State.

At a press conference at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) headquarters here on Wednesday, Mr. Kharge focused his party’s ire on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sangh Parivar’s brand of “muscular Hindu majoritarian nationalism and anti-Muslim politics.” Mr. Kharge portrayed Mr. Modi as “an existential threat to India’s plurality, secular Constitution, communal harmony and democracy.”

He sidestepped questions on the alleged diŽerences between the two partners in the INDIA bloc and their sparring in Kerala. He rea’rmed the INDIA bloc’s political relevance as a national-level anti-BJP platform, wherein regional secular forces adopted varied strategies to disadvantage the BJP. For one, in some non-BJP-ruled States, INDIA bloc allies fought each other to deny the

Sangh Parivar any anti-incumbency advantage. In others, they collaborated.

Mr. Kharge accused Mr. Modi of dangerously breaking tradition with past Prime Ministers by terming Indian Muslims “in•ltrators out to steal the nation’s wealth, including the gold ornaments of mothers and sisters”. Mr. Modi resorted to incendiary rhetoric and invoked religion to divert public attention away from institutionalised corruption, unemployment, in–ation, cost of living crisis, abject poverty, the yawning rich-poor divide and corporate appeasement. He said Mr. Modi had systematically subverted Constitutional bodies, including the Election Commission, by posting acolytes he could easily bend to his will.

“Mr. Modi has perverted law enforcement agencies and brazenly used them as tools to silence rivals and arm-twisted many into becoming his subalterns in the BJP. Two Chief Ministers are in jail because they refused to bend their knees to Mr. Modi,” Mr. Kharge said. He said attacks on minorities, including in Manipur and New Delhi, had become more brazen under Mr. Modi.

Forecast for Thursday: Thunderstorm with lightning/gusty winds likely at isolated places over Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Heat wave conditions likely in isolated pockets over Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and coastal Karnataka

TEMPERATURE DATA: IMD, POLLUTION DATA: CPCB, MAP: INSAT/IMD (TAKEN AT 18.00 HRS)

PTI (From left) Congress leader V.D. Satheesan, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and candidates for the Lok Sabha election Shashi Tharoor and Adoor Prakash during a function on Wednesday.