Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, among others, attend the foundation and foundation stone laying ceremony for various development works at Chittapur in Kalaburagi district on Sunday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is damaging India’s global standing with his foreign policy decisions.
Mr. Kharge was speaking after inaugurating completed development works and laying foundation stone for new projects worth a total of ₹ 1,069 crore at Chittapur in Kalaburagi district.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and Small Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur were among others present.
Referring to India’s earlier approach to foreign policy, Mr. Kharge said that when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister, India earned great respect internationally by leading several countries in the Non-Aligned Movement and maintaining neutrality in conflicts between global powers.
“By remaining neutral among the superpowers, India has earned great honor and respect. The Non-Aligned Movement has played a key role in maintaining global peace and security. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aligning India with the United States and Israel and helping to disrupt global peace and security,” he said.
Buying oil
Launching a scathing attack on the Center over India’s oil purchase policy, Mr Kharge said India used to buy oil from various countries, including Iran, Russia and Venezuela, depending on where it was cheaper.
“Now Mr. Trump is deciding where India should buy oil for its needs. He allowed India to buy oil from Russia only for 30 days. After that period he will decide again whether India should continue to buy oil from Russia or buy it from elsewhere as he wishes. So Mr. Modi is serving as a puppet of the United States,” Kharge said.
On the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue, he said that Mr. Modi, who talks about a wide range of topics in his Maan Ki Baat broadcast, did not talk about such developments.
Mr. Kharge pointed out the tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian agricultural items and said the Center had failed to protect the interests of Indian farmers.
“Mr. Modi repeatedly says that Mr. Trump is his best friend and that they often talk over morning tea. But Mr. Trump imposes heavy tariffs on Indian agricultural items entering the United States while providing duty-free entry for American agricultural products to India. Mr. Modi allows this even though it is against the interests of Indian farmers. Mr. Modi never talks about this in his Maan Ki Baat,” he said.
He further said Mr Trump was pressuring Mr Modi by threatening to reveal information contained in what he described as the Epstein files.
Article 371(J)
Turning his criticism towards the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr Kharge said the party had little agenda apart from attacking Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, as well as past leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
He recalled the efforts made to secure a special constitutional status for the Kalyana region of Karnataka through Article 371(J).
“Only I know the pains I had to go through to secure Article 371(J) for Kalyana Karnataka. A two-thirds majority was required in Parliament to amend the constitution. The Congress then had only 208 members. I had to mobilize the support of about 130 members from other parties to get the amendment passed. The BJP then rejected the proposal, Ad Deputy Prime Minister then said it was impossible. We implemented,” Mr Kharge said.
He said the constitutional provision has benefited the students and youth of the region by enabling them to secure educational and employment opportunities in addition to special grants for infrastructural development.
Published – March 8, 2026 7:45 PM IST
