Raipur: Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge on July 7, 2025, accused the BJP government at the centre of manipulating the voter lists in Maharashtra and Bihar. He also questioned the continued silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over repeated claims of the US President Donald Trump that he mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Addressing Kisan-Jawan-Samvidhan massive rally in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, the Congress President pointed out, while the BJP manipulated the voter list of Maharashtra by adding 75 lakh votes within a short span of a few months, in Bihar it was now trying to delete two crore votes. He accused the BJP government in Chhattisgarh of working only for the benefit of a few capitalist cronies of the Prime Minister Modi and not the common people of the state.

He alleged that the union Home Minister Amit Shah was frequently visiting Chhattisgarh only to facilitate and supervise the handover of the state resources to Modi’s friends. Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the BJP government was systematically destroying the natural resources of Chhattisgarh like ‘Jal, Jungle aur Zameen’ (water, forests and land) to handover these to Modi’s friends like Adani and Ambani.

“The Chhattisgarh CM is running on the directions of Modi and Shah and not in the interest of the state”, he claimed, while observing it was an insult to people of Chhattisgarh. Otherwise, he observed, the government should have worked for the benefit of the people. “What to talk of providing any benefits, the BJP government stopped various welfare schemes being provided by the Congress government”, he remarked.

The Congress President warned the BJP government against any attempt to fiddle with the Constitution. He referred to the demand made by an RSS leader to drop “secular” and “socialist” words from the Constitution.

He asserted, the Congress will never allow that to happen. Moreover, he asked the BJP that how come on the one hand it included ‘secular’ and a ‘socialist’ words in its own Constitution, on the other hand it was encouraging people who were seeking to remove these words from the Constitution.

Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Chhattisgarh, accusing it of betraying pre-poll promises and using central agencies to intimidate Congress leaders in the state. “But we must not be afraid. To protect our natural resources and our rights, we must stand united,” he said.

He alleged that the BJP was “trying to intimidate everyone” across the country by misusing agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department to harass opposition leaders. He reminded the BJP leadership of the lesson people of the country taught it in the 2024 General Elections when the party claimed that it will win ‘400 plus’ seats and change the Constitution. He said that the people gave such a befitting reply to the BJP that today Prime Minister Modi’s government needs the support of two crutches of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. The moment one crutch is withdrawn, the government will collapse, he remarked.

Those present included AICC General Secretary organization KC Venugopal, General Secretary in-charge Chhattisgarh Shri Sachin Pilot, former Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel, PCC President Deepak Baij, Shri Charan Das Mahant and other leaders.

A Report ‘Kisan, Jawan, Samvidhan’

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress held a ‘Kisan, Jawan, Samvidhan’ Rally in Raipur, addressed by the Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge. The Rally aimed to address farmers’ and soldiers’ issues, alleged constitutional attack, and state-level concerns like law and order, power cuts, education system issues. It highlighted the alleged attacks by the Central government on the Constitution and the autonomy of constitutional institutions. The rally was attended by heavy turnout to voice concerns against the BJP-led Central and state governments.

Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress President Shri Deepak Baij said that the visit of AICC President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge to Raipur is to energize Party workers and boost the morale of the cadre, ahead of crucial political battles.

Congress President also chaired a meeting of the Party’s political affairs committee, where a long-term strategy to counter the BJP was discussed. Over 25,000 people from across the state are expected to attend the event. PCC President Shri Deepak Baij stated that the rally in Raipur will be a historic event, organised to empower the deprived sections of society. The rally’s objectives are to protest the Central government’s alleged continuous attacks on farmers, soldiers, and the Constitution, oppose the alleged assaults on the independence of the country’s constitutional institutions, protest the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, the rising crimes against women, and the government’s apathy towards women’s safety, address the shortage of DAP fertiliser and seeds for farmers in the state, along with alleged government negligence, oppose the alleged atrocities against innocent tribals in the name of Maoist eradication, protest the unannounced power cuts in the state, oppose the alleged plunder of Chhattisgarh’s mineral wealth, the allocation of iron ore mines in Bastar to private companies, and the disinvestment of Nagarnar, protest the extensive felling of forests in the name of coal mining, specifically in Hasdeo and Tamnar, oppose the alleged destruction of the education system in the name of rationalisation, including the closure of 10,463 schools, the abolition of over 45,000 teaching positions, and the termination of thousands of cook and watchman posts, and to protest the illegal sale of liquor in the state and the alleged closure of schools while liquor shops remain open.