Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge skips Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, says had to attend party event

While Kharge missed the Red Fort event, drawing sharp criticism from the BJP, he unfurled the Tricolour at the AICC headquarters.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge celebrates Independence Day at the party headquarters in New Delhi. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

Citing security restrictions as the reason for staying away from the Red Fort, Kharge said, “First of all, I have a problem in my eyes. Secondly, as per the protocol, I had to unfurl the national flag at my residence at 9.20 am. I had to come to the Congress office too to unfurl the Tricolour. Had I gone there, I would not have been able to reach here… the security is so tight… they don’t let others leave till the Prime Minister leaves… and nowadays nobody is allowed to leave till the Home Minister, the Defence Minister, and the (Lok Sabha) Speaker leaves… our number comes after all of them.”

Kharge also criticised Prime Minister for signalling that he would return to unfurl the national flag next year as well. “Next year, he will unfurl the flag atop his house. Everybody says that he will win again and again, but winning and losing are in the hands of the people, the voters… Whatever he is saying is ‘ahankar ki baat’, he is attacking the Opposition even on Independence Day… how will you build the country,” he told the media.

In his Independence Day message, Kharge said democracy, the Constitution and autonomous institutions are all in great danger. He said the opposition’s voice is being silenced in Parliament and outside.

“New tactics are being adopted to suppress the voice of the Opposition; raids by CBI, ED, Income Tax are continuing. The Election Commission is being weakened. Efforts are being made to suppress the voice of opposition MPs in Parliament by suspending them. Sometimes the mic is switched off. Sometimes someone’s words are expunged. Privilege motions are being moved. They are saying we are strengthening democracy…that India is the largest democracy ….in Parliament When I get up, my mic is switched off. They are trumpeting about democracy on one side and on the other are shutting down everyone’s voice.

Kharge accused the government of renaming old schemes and laws to take credit. “Old ongoing schemes are given new names…new inaugural stones are laid on old infrastructure projects to add their name. Democracy is being torn to shreds by distorting the established Constitutional norms perfected over decades, adding new dimensions to dictatorship. First, they talked about ‘Acche Din’, then, they talked about ‘New India’ and now they are talking about Amrit Kaal. Isn’t this name change an effort to hide failures of the government and its vision,” he asked.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Prime Minister did not express any sorrow or acknowledgment of the abject failures which have led to Manipur turning into a war zone. “He brazenly claimed that Bharat Mata is being rejuvenated in Amrit Kaal – when the whole nation has witnessed her fate in Manipur where women are being brutally violated,” he said.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s remark that a new world order has been ushered in as the world saw India’s capability during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramesh said the Prime Minister deliberately failed to mention the 40 lakh Covid deaths – the highest in the world according to the WHO – which was “a direct result of inadequate oxygen supplies and the PM’s failure to order adequate vaccines in a timely manner.”

Ramesh also picked holes in the Prime Minister’s remark that the trinity of demography, democracy and diversity will help India become a developed country. “But he has failed on all three fronts in the last 9 years. The PM’s promise to youth that ‘desh mein avsaron ki kami nahin hai’ is a bitter lie. One out of four educated youth is jobless and many of the rest are facing disguised unemployment, doing menial or unproductive jobs, or endlessly preparing for competitive exams. India’s democratic institutions are being continuously eroded, the most recent example being the Bill to bring the Election Commission under the control of the Executive by going against the Supreme Court’s recommendations on selecting its members.”

“Diversity is being made meaningless with attacks on regional cultures and languages, and the legitimisation of mob violence against the most vulnerable, especially Dalits, Adivasis and minorities. The social fabric of the country has been torn apart through the control of media and the misuse of social media by the Modi government, the BJP and the hydra-headed Sangh Parivar,” he said.