Page 5 - Mallikarjun Kharge

Follow party stance on Pahalgam or face action: Congress warns leaders

The Congress has issued a directive to its leaders, urging them to align all public communication with CWC's resolution, which condemned the Pahalgam attack and called for unity and enhanced security

Rahul Gandhi, Kharge demand special Parliament session over Pahalgam attack

Opposition leaders urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene special Parliament session, call for national unity after Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people

Strengthening party at grassroots our priority: Cong's Mallikarjun Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said efforts are underway to strengthen the party at the grassroots. Talking to reporters after the Congress executive meeting at Totuka Bhawan here, Kharge said if the party is strong at the division, block and district levels, it will become strong at the national level. He also praised the Rajasthan unit of the Congress, saying it was doing good work in the state and everyone was working unitedly. "We are going to the grassroots level to strengthen the organisation. The efforts of all the leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, are to strengthen the party," he said. Asserting that the Congress has appointed district-wise observers, Kharge said, "Our effort is to keep the Congress organisation strong from villages to the cities". Kharge said he interacted with the workers, district presidents and state executives. After the executive meeting, Kharge, along with organisation general secretary K C Venugopal, left for Delhi. Earlier in the

'Do you control your party?' BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad to Rahul, Kharge

Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised Congress for controversial statements, alleging Pakistan is exploiting them to tarnish India's reputation, amid rising tensions with Pakistan after Pahalgam attack

Kharge lashes out at PM Modi for skipping all-party meet on Pahalgam attack

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for skipping the all-party meeting called to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead. "It is the misfortune of the country that when the pride of the country was hurt, you (PM Modi) were giving an election speech in Bihar," he said addressing the 'Samvidhan Bachao' rally here. "Leaders of all parties attended the all-party meeting, but it is sad that PM Modi did not come to that meeting. Was Bihar far away? The PM should have come to the all-party meeting and explained the plan. What help does he need from us?" he said. Further attacking the Prime Minister, he said, "Modi gave inflation and unemployment. Such people weaken the country. The 56-inch chest has shrinked." In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Modi had said that it takes a 56-inch chest to convert Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat in terms of development. Kharge said Congress leaders had decided that it will support

Pahalgam attack: Cong calls for detailed analysis into 'security failures'

Congress Working Committee (CWC) condemns Pahalgam terror attack, slams BJP for politicising tragedy; seeks probe into security lapse, urges safety for Amarnath pilgrims

Pahalgam attack: Congress holds emergency CWC meet, pays tribute to victims

Top Congress leaders on Thursday held an emergency meeting of the party's working committee to deliberate on the Pahalgam terror attack and are expected to pass a resolution condemning it. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others, attended the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here at the party's 24, Akbar Road office. The meeting started with leaders paying homage to the victims of the attack by observing a moment of silence in their memory. Rahul Gandhi had cut short his visit to the United States to attend the CWC meeting. The Congress is expecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be chairing an all-party meeting on the attack later this evening, to take all political parties into confidence as well as build a collective resolve. Earlier, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had spoken with Home Minister Amit Shah, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minist

'This is not a time for partisan politics': Kharge condemns Pahalgam attack

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday termed the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed as a direct assault on the Indian state, and said that in this moment the entire nation is one with the government to fight the terrorists. He urged the government to use all its strength to hunt down the terrotists. "Very unfortunate incident happened in Pahalgam in Jammu-Kashmir and the terrorists dastardly killed innocent and unsuspecting tourists yesterday around 2:30 pm. This has deeply hurt, shocked and saddened us all. The Congress party unequivocally condemns this cowardly act of terror and those responsible for it in the strongest possible terms," Kharge said. Addressing reporters here, he said, this attack is a direct assault on the unity and integrity of our nation. "Since the horrific Chittisinghpura massacre in 2000 this is among the most brazen and outrageous attempts by terrorists and separatists. We firmly reiterate that those who murdered unarmed and

Tejashwi arrives in Delhi for meeting Cong prez Kharge over Bihar polls

With the Bihar Assembly elections expected to take place in roughly six months, all the political parties have ramped up preparations

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