Modi will again unfurl national flag, but at his own house: Congress chief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is speaking out of his "arrogance" by claiming that he will unfurl the national flag at Red Fort next year too, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday, asserting that he would do so but at his residence.

Kharge also hit out at the prime minister for criticising the opposition in his Independence Day address.

"What he is saying is talk of arrogance. Now it is 2023 and to say that he will again unfurl the national flag in 2024 (at the Red Fort) is speaking out of 'durankaar, ahankaar' (arrogance)," the Congress chief told reporters when asked about the prime minister's remarks.

"He (PM) also keeps on criticising the opposition and if he keeps doing so even on Independence Day, then what kind of India will he make," he said.

"He (the PM) will again unfurl the flag, but at his own house," Kharge said.

The Congress president had skipped the Independence Day function at the Red Fort.

Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said, "It is the power of the people to decide who will deliver the speech at Red Fort next year. We should leave it to them."

Another Congress leader Ajoy Kumar alleged that Prime Minister Modi is unable to control the corruption in his government which is being exposed in the CAG reports.

"This is Modi ji's state during Amritkaal and Kartavaya kaal. The student who fails keeps speaking about passing," he said on PM's remarks at the Red Fort.

"He is scared. Modi ji is scared," Kumar said.

AAP MP Sushil Kumar Gupta said, "I feel strange that he is unable to give his report card even after nine years of being in power."

"To say that he will give his report card next year, how it is possible? He should have given his report card as people have given him enough time. It is the will of the public as to who they will give their preference for unfurling the national flag next year," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday outlined a picture of a resurgent India globally on his watch and exuded confidence in his last Independence Day speech before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls that he will address people from Red Fort again next year, even as he attacked the opposition over issues of corruption, dynastic politics and appeasement.

Modi called for promoting "suchita, pardarshita and nishpakshta" (probity, transparency and impartiality) in every sphere of life and governance and, in a clear re-election bid ahead of the national elections, warned people against dynastic parties who worked with the mantra of "by the family, of the family and for the family".

The next five years are a period of unprecedented development and will prove to be a golden period in realising the dream of developed India by 2047, he asserted, assuring people of "Modi ki guarantee" that the country will become the third largest economy.