Raids in Chhattisgarh can't deter us, Congress sent back Britishers: Kharge in poll-bound MP

Balaghat (MP): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said their party sent back Britishers and that the recent raids by central agencies in Chhattisgarh can't demoralise its workers, asserting they will win the assembly polls there as well as in Madhya Pradesh. Kharge was addressing a public meeting at Katangi town in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district of MP, which goes to polls on November 17.

“I was in Chhattisgarh yesterday (Friday) and the force of Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Shah (Union home minister Amit Shah) was also there. Through ED, CBI and I-T raids they want to terrorise our party workers so that they sit in their homes,” he said. The Congress has been accusing the BJP-led Centre of weaponising the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax (I-T) to target its government in Chhattisgarh through various raids.

The latest accusation by the Congress came on Friday when ED claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a 'cash courier' had led to “startling allegations” that the promoters of ‘Mahadev' betting app paid about Rs 508 crore to the Chhattisgarh chief minister so far, and that “these are subject matter of investigation”. “They are thinking that Congress workers will sit at home and get demoralised due to these raids, but it won't happen. The Congress is certainly going to win in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

Kharge said the Congress fought the Britishers, sent them back and ensured India's independence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. “Jawaharlal Nehru strengthened the democracy. Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar made a law to strengthen the poor. We are not going to be scared by Modi, Shah, and their disciples,” he said, adding that the Congress is getting stronger day by day.

Dubbing Modi “jhoothon ka sardar” (leader of liars), the Congress president said that instead of working, he was hurling abuses at the Congress and the Gandhi family. Kharge said the previous Congress governments had done a lot of work, referring to the achievements of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi. He said the country's “140 crore people have phones” in their hands and it was possible because of the vision of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, whom he praised for introducing mobile phones and computers in India. The Congress leader said that the Congress government had built schools and colleges and produced doctors who helped people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kharge said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) of the previous government helped people eke out a living during the pandemic. He said that the Congress government works for people and the poor, while the Modi government works for “business honchos like (Gautam) Adani”. The Congress leader said that MP has seen 250 scams in 225 months. About Katangi in Balaghat, he said it was earlier a part of Bhandara-Gondia from where Dr Ambedkar, who framed the Constitution, ran elections way back in 1954. Besides, the place houses a famous temple and is considered a holy land