Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge’s Opening Remarks at the Extended CWC, September 24, 2025.

Honorable LOP, Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi and all the members of the Extended CWC, welcome to today’s meeting. Sadakat Ashram was a focal point of the freedom movement. Established in 1921, this historic Congress office has been the workplace of many great leaders of the Congress Party. I pay special tribute to them today.

This meeting of the CWC in Patna is extremely important. We are meeting at a time when India is going through a very challenging and worrying period at both the international and national levels. Our problems at the international level are the result of the general failure and the diplomatic failure of Shri Narendra Modi and his government. The very friends whom the Prime Minister boasts about as “my friends” are today putting India in numerous troubles.

Today, when our voter list is being officially tampered with, it is necessary that we reaffirm our pledge to save the Democracy and the Constitution of this country by organizing a meeting of our Extended CWC in Bihar, the mother of democracy.

Exactly 85 years ago, the first proposal for the session of the Constituent Assembly was introduced in the AICC Session at Ramgarh. the Constituent Assembly proposal. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr. Ambedkar, and members of the Constituent Assembly together granted the citizens of the country the right of ‘One person, One vote’.

The foundation of democracy is fair and transparent elections. But today, serious questions are being raised about the Election Commission’s impartiality and transparency. Revelations have surfaced in various states. Instead of answering those questions, EC is demanding Affidavit from us.

Similar to Bihar, a conspiracy is now being hatched across the country to cut the votes of millions of people. ‘Vote chori’ (Vote theft) means the theft of rations, pensions, medicines, children’s scholarships, and examinations belonging to Dalits, tribals, backward classes, extremely backward classes, minorities, the vulnerable, and the poor. The ‘Voter Rights Yatra’ has spread awareness among the people of Bihar, and they have openly come out in support of Shri Rahul Gandhi.

Modi Ji has remembered Mahatma Gandhi’s 100-year-old mantra of ‘Swadeshi’, which the Congress Party used, to defeat the British. Meanwhile, the red carpet is being laid for China. Our imports from China have doubled in the last five years.

Today, our country is grappling with many problems, including economic recession, unemployment, social polarization, and the targeted weakening of autonomous constitutional institutions. The promise of “2 crore jobs” remains unfulfilled. Youth are left without employment. Demonetization and the wrong GST derailed the economy. After eight years, the Prime Minister realized his mistake. Now, only those reforms have been implemented in GST that the Congress Party has been demanding from day one.

Modi Ji believes that citizens should spend more, but how will people spend more when income hasn’t increased in the last 10 years, only inflation has increased? Rural consumption is at its lowest level in 50 years. Inequality is at its peak. The rich have become richer, while the poor are becoming poorer.

The Prime Minister failed to double farmers’ income as promised. The three black laws of 2020-21 sparked protests, resulting in the martyrdom of over 750 farmers. The Modi government at the center, as well as BJP governments in other states, continue to seek opportunities to fuel religious polarization and inflame communal sentiments. The BJP formed the NDA government in Bihar in January 2024 by re-supporting Nitish Kumar. The Nitish Kumar government promised development, but Bihar’s economy is lagging behind. The ‘double engine’ claim proved hollow, and no special package was received from the central government.

The unemployment rate in Bihar is above 15 percent. Millions of youth migrate every year. Recruitment scams have led to youth protesting on the streets and facing police lathi-charge. The plight of farmers in Bihar is perhaps the worst in the country. Every year, millions of people suffer losses due to floods caused by the Kosi and Gandak rivers. This is proof of the government’s complete failure in flood management.

The Prime Minister has promised to revive Bihar’s sugar industry on numerous occasions. But even ten years later, his promise remains unfulfilled. Internal strife within the NDA coalition is now out in the open. Nitish Kumar has been mentally retired by the BJP. The BJP now considers him a liability. 80 percent of Bihar’s population belongs to the OBC, EBC, and SC/ST categories. The public demands transparency in the caste census and reservation policies. The Congress Party and Shri Rahul Gandhi have pressured the central government to conduct a caste census. Even in Bihar, a caste survey was conducted during the tenure of the Congress Grand Alliance government.

I want to ask the Prime Minister, what compels him not to secure constitutional protection for the 65 percent reservation passed by the government for the people of Bihar? History bears witness that the Congress government granted constitutional protection to the 69 percent reservation for the people of Tamil Nadu thirty years ago. The double-engine government failed to achieve this here.

The most bizarre thing was said by the Chief Minister of UP, who considers himself the Prime Minister’s successor. He previously wrote an article opposing reservations. Now he has banned rallies held in the name of castes. Will the Prime Minister tell the country that on one hand we are all talking about conducting a caste census, and on the other hand, your Chief Minister is talking about jailing those who take to the streets to protest the injustice and oppression they face? Is this right? You should tell the public.

The government and administration of the state of Bihar have been on hiatus for a long time. Robberies and murders are everyday occurrences. The crime rate is steadily rising. There is a severe shortage of teachers in schools.

The government health system is in complete disarray, and hospitals are severely lacking medicines. In the event of illness, the average Bihari is either exploited by private hospitals or forced to travel outside Bihar for treatment.

The people of Bihar do not want the BJP’s religious polarization. They want development-focused politics. They want basic and long-term solution from their government. They want the right to development, employment, social justice, and good governance, and this is what the Congress Party demands.

Bihar has strengthened Indian democracy through its historical, social, and political contributions. Its people have consistently promoted social justice and mass movements. They have fought for the upliftment of Dalits, tribals, backward, extremely backward, and minority communities.

I want to sound the bugle for Bihar’s reconstruction from here today. The Congress Party, together with its alliance partners, will provide employment, education, health, social justice, and good governance to the people of Bihar. The people of Bihar have long dreamed of a ‘Golden Bihar’, and together we will make it a reality.

The 2025 Assembly elections will prove to be a milestone not only for Bihar but for the entire country. This will mark the beginning of the countdown and the end of the corrupt rule of the Modi government. With these words, I conclude. Thank you! Jai Hind - Jai Congress - Jai Bihar!