Page 5 - Mallikarjun Kharge

Kharge alleges EVM fraud, demands return to ballot paper in elections

Alleging that the BJP won the Maharashtra assembly polls through a fraud like never before, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday made a strong pitch for having elections on ballot paper. Addressing the AICC session here, Kharge also accused the Modi government of selling off government assets to benefit crony capitalists and finishing democracy slowly. The whole world is moving from EVMs to ballot paper but we are using EVMs. This is all fraud. They ask us to prove it. You have devised such techniques that benefit the ruling party and put the opposition at a disadvantage, Kharge said. But the youngsters of this country will rise and say we want ballot paper, he said in his inaugural address at the session being held here on the banks of the Sabarmati river. What happened in Maharashtra. We raised the issue everywhere, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue strongly. What kind of voter list they madeMaharashtra election was a fraud. The same thing happened in Haryana, the Congr

Prepare for polls for 5 yrs, not 6 months: Kharge to Cong district chiefs

The meeting at Indira Gandhi Bhawan was attended by 302 DCC presidents from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh

Anurag Thakur should resign if he can't prove allegations, says Kharge

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday hit back at Anurag Thakur for hurling "wild allegations" at him, and dared the BJP MP to prove the charges or else resign. Referring to certain remarks made by Thakur in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during the discussion on the Waqf bill, the Congress president said the remarks have damaged his reputation. Thakur's remarks have been expunged from the records. Several opposition parties also staged a walkout from the House on the issue. Raising the issue during the morning session in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said his life has always been an open book, and he has always upheld the highest values in public life. "After almost 60 years in politics, I do not deserve this. Yesterday, completely false and baseless charges were hurled at me in the Lok Sabha by Anurag Thakur. When he was challenged by my colleagues, he was compelled to withdraw his defamatory remarks," he said. "But the damage has been done. All the media

Trump's reciprocal tariffs: Congress questions govt for 'silence, inaction'

Reacting to US President Donald Trump's tariff announcement, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the Indian government needs to 'develop a spine and stand up to the US'

Govt turning banks into 'collection agents of loot': Kharge on ATM fee hike

The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Modi government after the RBI's decision to allow banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals, and said banks have been reduced to "collection agents" to "loot" citizens. Giving a list of charges levied by banks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a "painful" price rise and "unbridled loot" was the BJP's mantra. "Our banks have been unfortunately made 'collection agents' by the Modi government! ATM withdrawal charges to be costlier," Kharge said in a post on X. "The Modi government has extracted at least Rs 43,500 crore due to non-maintenance of minimum balance from savings accounts and Jan Dhan accounts combined, between 2018 and 2024," he said. "Other bank charges to LOOT citizens - an inactivity fee, which is Rs 100-200 every year. Bank statement issuance fee is Rs 50-100. Rs 20-25 per quarter is charged for SMS alerts. Banks charge 1-3 per cent as loan processing fees," he added. The Congress chief also claimed that if a lo

Dhankhar calls all-party meet today on cash recovery at Delhi judge's house

Jagdeep Dhankhar met JP Nadda, Kharge on Monday over cash row at judge's home; calls all-party meeting today to discuss matter amid judiciary-legislature concerns

Rajya Sabha chairman to meet with Nadda, Kharge to discuss NJAC issue

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has convened a meeting with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday to hold a structured discussion on the issue of judicial accountability and the NJAC Act. The chairman has written to both Nadda and Kharge for a meeting in his chamber at 11.30 am, a source said. The meeting is with reference to the observations made by the House chairman on March 21, in response to the points raised by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over the recovery of cash from the residence of a high court judge. Chairman Dhankhar had on March 21 referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in 2014. The legislation was struck down by the Supreme Court later. On March 21, Dhankhar told the Rajya Sabha, "You all will recollect the mechanism which was passed by this House with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya .

PM Modi's 38 foreign trips since 2022 cost nearly Rs 258 cr: Govt data

Nearly Rs 258 crore was incurred on 38 foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi between May 2022 and December 2024, according to data shared by the government. Of these visits, the costliest one was the visit of the prime minister to the US in June 2023, which incurred over Rs 22 crore. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita shared the visit-wise data in his written response to a query in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge asked the government the total expenditure incurred by Indian embassies on arrangements for the prime minister's foreign visits in the past three years. He also asked for visit-wise details of expenses under major heads such as hotel arrangements, community receptions, transport arrangements and other miscellaneous expenditures among others. The data on "country-wise expenditure on foreign visits by the Prime Minister, including the expenditure on official, accompanying, security and media

Delimitation based on population unfair to southern states, says Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said that if the delimitation exercise is based on population, it will be an injustice to the southern states as it would reduce their representation in the Lok Sabha and urged people to unite against this "injustice." Speaking at the centenary celebrations of the late K H Patil, a former minister, he also criticised the central government, expressing concern over the alleged lack of emphasis on education and the large number of vacancies in educational institutions. "The central government talks about cooperative federalism. If there is cooperative federalism, why are people not receiving the funds they are entitled to? Are cooperatives in Karnataka getting the money they should from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)? It has decreased by 58 per cent," Kharge said. Addressing the gathering, he urged the people of Karnataka to unite and fight against the injustice being done to them. "When the issue conce

PM Modi, Cong prez pay tribute to Dandi March heroes on 95th anniversary

The Dandi March, also called Salt Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat, was a key part of his non-violent resistance against British rule

'I apologise, it was about govt policies': Kharge after row in Rajya Sabha

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge apologised in Rajya Sabha, clarifying that his remark was about government policies, after BJP objected to a 'derogatory' term used in his speech

Modi govt weakening RTI in name of data protection, claims Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the Modi government of weakening the Right To Information (RTI) Act in the name of data protection and asserted that his party will keep fighting against the "dictatorial" regime to secure the rights of the people. Kharge asserted that the Congress will not let RTI weaken and will continue to raise its voice from the streets to Parliament. "On one hand, India has been topping the charts on Misinformation and Disinformation for the past years and on the other hand, the Modi government is bent on weakening the Right To Information (RTI) Act implemented by the Congress-UPA by bringing in the Data Protection law," the Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X. Whether it is information in the public sector like the list of ration cards, beneficiary labourers of MGNREGA, names of people involved in public welfare schemes, voter list in elections, or the names of scamster billionaires who fled abroad after taking loans from ...

Govt has 'snatched' scholarships of SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that the government has "snatched" the scholarships of the youth of SC, ST, OBC and minority communities, and claimed that its slogan of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" mocks the aspirations of the weaker sections. Kharge asked how will jobs for the youth be increased until the students of weaker sections of the country get opportunities and their skills are encouraged. "Narendra Modi ji, Your government has snatched the scholarships of the youth of SC, ST, OBC and Minority categories in the country," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X. These shameful government statistics show that the Modi government has not only drastically reduced the beneficiaries in all scholarships, but has also spent 25 per cent less funds on an average year after year, he said sharing data of "declining" scholarships for SC, ST, OBC and minority students. "Until the students of the weaker sections of the country get opportunities, their skills are not ..

Congress approves appointment of Presidents for Mahila units in 6 states

The appointments have been approved by the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge

Kharge tells his top party leaders they will be accountable for results

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday told top party leaders that they would be held accountable for election results in the future and warned them against turncoats, remarks that came in the backdrop of the party's Delhi poll debacle. Addressing the new office-bearers at a meeting held at the party's headquarters at Indira Bhawan, he urged party leaders to work at the grassroots level and strengthen the party from the booth level and promote such people who are ideologically committed to the organisation. Kharge also hinted at some more changes in the organisation, saying some changes have already taken place and some more are in the offing. "I want to talk to you about the most important thing of accountability. You all will be held accountable for revamping the organisations in states and for all future election results," he told the office-bearers. The party recently brought in new office bearers in the revamped organisation. Among those who attended the meeting

Kharge slams Modi govt, calls Sitharaman's 'good returns' claim ironic

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday termed as ironical the claim of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the Indian economy is giving good returns, and said a "visionless" Modi government has tanked the economy and ruined the lives of Indians. "Nothing can be more ironical than Modi Sarkar's FM saying that our Economy is delivering 'Good Returns', he said in a post on X. Kharge said Rs 45 lakh crore has been wiped out from the Indian stock markets so far in 2025 and Nifty 50 firms have shown the worst quarterly profit growth in five years. "Foreign Investors have sold over Rs 1.56 lakh crore of stocks since October last year, including nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in 2025 itself, which has led to wiping out wealth of small and medium investors," the Congress chief said. "Rupee at 87, means Trade Deficit is sky-high. Imports have risen by 62.21 percent in the last 5 years. The Modi Government's Trade policy is disastrous for India," he said. Drawing a comparison, Kharge

NDLS stampede highlights failure of railways, 'insensitivity' of govt: Cong

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it was extremely shameful and condemnable that the Modi government was attempting to hide the truth about the deaths

Waqf Bill accepted in Rajya Sabha amid strong Opposition protests

During the debate on the report on the amended Waqf Bill, the Opposition said that dissent notes in the report by Opposition MPs were removed and restored to sloganeering

Kharge slams govt over US' deportations of Indians ahead of Trump-Modi meet

Instead of sending Indians on a regular passenger flight, why were they sent on a goods flight, this means PM Modi's friend (Trump) is treating our people like slaves, Kharge added

Rahul, Kharge skip Invest K'taka Summit over 'prominence to BJP leaders'?

The Karnataka global investors' meet, scheduled from February 12 to 14 in Bengaluru, is themed "Reimagining Growth" and aims to showcase Karnataka as a key destination for global investment