Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress President & LoP (Rajya Sabha) alongwith Shri K.C. Venugopal, General Secretary (Organisation) and Shri Jairam Ramesh, AICC General Secretary (Communications) addressed the media at AICC Hdqrs, on January 6, 2024. Congress President Addressed the Media

Translated from Hindi

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said that my greetings to everyone and this is the first time I am meeting you in this new year, so I also wish you a ‘Happy New Year’. Friends, we are going to start a grand ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on 14th and under the leadership of Shri Rahul Gandhi, this ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ will start from Manipur, Imphal and will pass through 15 states of the country via Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh. Passing through 110 districts, this yatra will cover all 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 Legislative Assembly seats. This journey will culminate in Mumbai after covering a distance of about 6,700 kilometres.

He has told all these things to everyone. He will give all the details of where, at what time our meetings will be held and at which places we will hold public meetings and he has also called and held meetings in all the states through which the Yatra would pass. ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ - We are carrying out this yatra on all three subjects - social, economic and political - the basic issues of the country.

The unfortunate incident that happened in Manipur in the month of May and kept happening, but day and night, Modi ji is seen sharing photo sessions of swimming, sometimes when the construction of temples is going on, he goes there and takes photos. Sometimes in Kerala, sometimes in Bombay, he goes everywhere wearing his new clothes. You must have been seeing his photos from everywhere every day, you too got fed up of seeing his face so many times and you guys too do not stop capturing his pictures.

It is like having a ‘darshan’ of God as soon as one wakes up. But why did this great man not go to Manipur where people are dying, where women are being raped, where people are dying in the cold, to inquire about their well-being? Why? Is he not a part of the country? You go to Lakshadweep and stay in waters. Can’t you go to Manipur and explain to the people? Today you have complete power, you say this yourselves - I am one of my kind in this country of India, no opposition can stop me. These are his words, not mine. He said in the Parliament that ‘Modi supersedes all the opposition’, he was the one who said it, I did not say it.

So, when one Modi is enough, then go brother, go to Manipur and see what is the condition there. Find out why is this happening. It is a part of the country and for how many more days will you keep doing this? That is why we are taking out this yatra to create public awareness. This yatra is just like our ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. All the people had participated in it. It happened from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and now is going to happen from Imphal to Mumbai.

So, these people who are working irresponsibly and insensitively on national problems, this is not right and brother every person has compassion, but perhaps he does not want to show compassion about Manipur and national discussion, dialogue - all these things will happen in Rahul Ji’s yatra, like it happened in the first ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. This is a huge step taken by Rahul ji. The entire Party stands with him in this fight.

Secondly, why are we going out there to tell people because there is no other way. We tried to express our views in the Parliament, tried to raise these issues in the Parliament, but the government there did not give us a chance and the interesting thing is that if a person is sitting silent, he is suspended, those who stand up are suspended. The one standing is also suspended, the one sitting on the chair is also suspended, i.e., 146 people were suspended. This is the first time in the history of this country that so many people have been suspended and so many people have not been listened to and the point that we wanted to put forward by 28 parties together did not get any chance and even the Prime Minister did not come to our rescue from this. He should at least take a peek into the Parliament, but he should not even peek into my Rajya Sabha, although both are across a lane.

So, I don’t know what hatred they have for us, but they did not even express their deep concern about it to the government and let them go, suspended them. They did this and the session ended. That is why, now we are going to tell this to the people and people from various NGOs, journalists, farmers, small traders, Dalits and people from backward classes and intellectuals and those from the tribal section, all these people get involved with us on the way. We will meet more on the way, at each point we will have a speech, we will talk there too and we will also listen to the problems of the people, because this is not just a platform to express our views, this is also a platform to listen to others. So, this, what we have started, is a great thing and your co-operation is also necessary. Without you, this is not possible. You are oxygen for us, because if you do not support us then we will gradually end.

That’s why I want you to keep giving whatever support or oxygen you have, because it is necessary to keep democracy alive, to keep the Constitution alive, and if the Constitution is fine, then even you have the freedom of speech and expression, all this TV will work, writing and reading is going on. If you don’t agree then they will gradually shut your mouth and then later you will have to write with a tight lip and they will also shut your hands and pen too.

So, this is same for everyone, so you pay attention to this and the three criminal acts passed by them, today even the lawyers are worried, leave aside others, the lawyers themselves are worried about how to pronounce what, what to do exactly and how to align things. Even they are not able to understand how to bring it back on track, but one more thing- they first bring the farmers’ bills, then repeal them and you don’t even ask about the condition of the labourers, I know very well that this government does not give any importance to labourers. There is no place for them in it. Provident Fund, they do enrolment in the names of some old people, we have provided so many jobs. The condition of ESI is also the same and they have no interest in the earlier laws, rules, regulations, everything, bonuses etc. They have removed the Labour Laws which were made before independence. Before the Constituent Assembly, when Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, the Viceroy, was the executive member of the Labor Department, now they have removed the laws made by him as well. Those who came after independence were also thrown out. So, in the end, do we want to make our employees bonded labour and if this thing happens to keep these labourers, be it you or anyone else, so scared and under the control of the employer, then there is nothing worse than this. So, friends, the things like Labor Law, Farmer’s issue, now Criminal Law, all these things are being brought up that it is a sign of a dictator. I can speak in this language, our Jairam speaks in a little sophisticated way, because there is a slight difference between me and them. To put simply, he has the habit of traveling in the metro, I have the habit of traveling in express and passenger trains.

These are the things that we are placing before you today and through this Yatra, I just said that this is an opportunity to create public awareness on social, economic, political and basic questions of the people like inflation, unemployment, farmers’ issues, poor condition of labourers, increasing gap between rich and poor and caste-based issues and census etc. We will talk to everyone about this and secondly, during the yatra, Rahul ji will talk to different sections of the society, people from different areas, organizations, understand their point and what will be the solution for it. Next, we will get huge benefit from this and the Congress cadre will make all possible efforts to make it successful. We have invited the leaders and allies of the India Alliance and various parties related to the Congress Party in various states, civil society to join the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’. Mostly, they will also join and will also discuss these issues on their way. Now I invite all of you to join in this and one thing is that earlier we had done it with a lot of preparation from UT and State from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and achieved great success in it. We want to experience the same success in this yatra and there is another issue.

There is another thing in the country today, along with our programme, I will also tell you something else. The BJP government is openly attacking the ED, the CBI, the Income Tax Department and other small agencies. Today, they are attacking the opposition leaders and their relatives, even the relatives of small people who belong to the Party. You are intimidating and getting your point across by threatening, and it is very surprising that you defame a person, it is not right. You catch someone from Congress, someone from TMC, someone from TDP. You catch anyone and put him/her in some case or the other and if that person joins your Party, he comes out to be clean! Shah Saheb has such a big dry clean factory. The members who are tainted while they are with us, become white and pure white as soon as they go and join and them. How does this even work? You talk about justice, and you say that we are very clean, spotless.

Why are you doing this? If you get two-four MLAs less, you pick them up, file a case, then that government gets cleaned. If the government is run like this, if the country is run like this, then what will happen is that if you include those who are elected from the public by horse-trading and intimidation, then I don’t think that is right! So that’s why I had to say this to all of you and Modi ji has never accepted the Constitution, perhaps he will have a wait and see list, because in the coming days, whatever work he does on the orders of Nagpur, his focus will be concentrated only on that. He does not consider this Constitution as his Constitution, because he accepts the Constitution of Nagpur only, that is why we feel that justice, freedom, equality and brotherhood are being flouted today and have been completely affected. The Preamble of the Constitution has to be saved and strengthened again, that is why this journey is necessary. So, I do not want to say anything more than this. I will only keep my point that this is an issue of justice, it is an issue of ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra’. We will move forward on this issue, every person should take part in it, this is my appeal. I conclude my words with this.

Teaser and stickers of ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ launched by Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge On a question that this yatra will pass through 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 assembly seats, the time is till March 20, is the campaign for your Lok Sabha elections starting from here?

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said that I have given the figures of districts, Lok Sabha constituencies, assembly seats and 6,700 kilometres, I have given this because we first went from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and now we will be leaving again for this yatra. It is not that we are not going to go to other places, we will go everywhere, we will present our point everywhere. But Rahul Ji’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ will come out from this area, from so many districts, that is why we said this.

On another question, if you have received an invitation to attend the inauguration of Ayodhya Ram temple, will you go and what advice have you given to the Party leaders? Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said that I got all these invitations, the Secretary himself had come. First the retired principal Secretary of Modi ji, then the Secretary of the trust, Shankar Singh, some such name, I do not remember, he had come. I have been invited. I will decide as soon as possible, what to do. Those who speak have personal opinions, if you have got it, then you go, if others have got it, then they may go too. This is your personal matter and you believers can go at any time whenever you want.

On another question, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam constitute a total of 108 seats out of 15 states in the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, so can it be assumed that the focus has been made because more seats are expected from here?

Shri Kharge said that see, our job is to provide justice and seats are not counted to provide justice. It is our job to go to every area, to awaken people, to tell people what this government is doing. Giving and taking votes is a personal matter of the people and the voters. So, we are going on this yatra to tell the people, we are going to raise their sorrow and pain.

On a question that has it been finalised that how many seats Congress Party is going to contest in next Lok Sabha elections? Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said- No! that we will decide. See, in all 500+ Constituencies, we are working and already we have finalized 500+ our Parliament observers. Today, that list will be announced. So, they will get access in each Parliamentary Constituency and ultimately when the ‘INDIA Alliance’ is there, then; when negotiation we will have in each state then the exact number will come out. But we are trying to put our efforts everywhere, because, today we are thinking we are getting ‘A’ seat. Suppose our Alliance partners don’t agree that you take ‘C’ seat. Therefore, we are putting observers in each Constituency.

On another question, in view of the Lok Sabha elections, is there any talk going on within the India Alliance that you can be the Chairperson and Nitish Kumar will be the Convenor?

Shri Kharge said that this is like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, this question you have asked, when we have a meeting, in which manner and who will take which post, it will be decided after 10-15 days. Now the second thing is that there is no such thing. All the people have agreed upon one another and are working unitedly, so there is nothing wrong in that. Don’t worry, stay with us.

On another question, will there be any big events with the alliance in the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ and secondly, will you people continue to march until you get the right to justice?

Shri Kharge said that look, this is agitation, you asked me such a crooked question. Maybe this could happen someday. Only you can provide justice. Only you can get us rid of them in the elections here in 2024. Another thing is that we have definitely decided to hold seven-eight meetings with the people of our alliance. We will tell the places one-by-one, there is no doubt about it, we will do it at a good place, a good meeting will take place and everyone will participate in it. On a further question about seat sharing with alliance partners?

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said- Already our people are there. You know that we have Constituted a committee, nearly 6-member committee is working, the convenor is Shri Mukul Wasnik and Shri Ashok Gehlot is there and Bhupesh Baghel is there, P. Chidambaram is there, Salman Khurshid is there, Mohan Prakash is there, they are doing their best and we had one meeting already at my residence. And they are meeting every two alternate days to finalise, what is to be done, where we have to demand; where they will demand that all things be formalised, they are doing it.