Page 6 - Mallikarjun Kharge

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

Created atmosphere against govt, but public didn't give us mandate: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the party succeeded in creating an atmosphere against the AAP government in Delhi but the public did not give it the mandate to rule the city. Accepting the public opinion, Kharge said the Congress will continue to raise the issues of pollution, Yamuna cleaning, electricity, roads, water and development in Delhi, and remain connected with the public. "In the Delhi Assembly polls, the Congress created an atmosphere against the government in the public interest, but the public did not give us the mandate as we had expected. We accept the public opinion," he said in a post in Hindi on X. "Every Congress leader and worker worked unitedly under adverse circumstances, but more hard work and struggle is still required," he added. The Congress on Saturday faced a third consecutive season of electoral droughts in Delhi, failing to open its account in the 70-member Assembly and suffering crushing defeats in key constituencies. The grand

Kharge criticises Modi govt over falling rupee, failing farm income promise

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Kharge had alleged that lakhs of farmers died citing NCRB data and said the Leader of Opposition should substantiate his claims.

Kejriwal betrayed Delhi voters, city's progress was under Cong: Kharge

Kharge alleged that Kejriwal, who once championed the fight against corruption, has failed to uphold his promises and misled the public for political gains