Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Malikarjun Kharge at a house distribution program in Hubballi on Saturday. | Photo credit: Kiran Bakale
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of divisive politics on caste and religion without helping any development, appealing to people not to vote for the BJP in any of the upcoming elections as it would “lead to slavery”.
Addressing a large rally during the distribution of 42,345 KSDB houses under PMAY in Hubballi on Saturday, Mr. Kharge alleged that in the last 10 years, the BJP has not given anything to the people and has not fulfilled its promises.
‘Slogan Only’
“Nation first is a slogan used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP only during elections. Remaining days it is RSS first and BJP first for saffron party and nation and constitution come later. But for Congress, nation first always,” he said.
“Mr. Modi talked about bringing back black money, providing 2 million jobs, and even today he is only talking and constantly abusing Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders who have actually implemented a lot of development work,” he said.
Mr. Kharge recalled how the ‘People’s Housing Scheme’, a program for the poor, was born during the tenure of D. Devaraj Urs and Minister Basavalingappa and how the pro-people Congress government continued to work for the welfare of the poor. He suggested to Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan to add more towns and villages to the housing project.
He criticized the Union government for troubling non-BJP-ruled states through governorships and for not providing necessary grants. “Another act that BJP often does is to change good programs and policies. Now recently they have brought the VB G-RAM-G Act instead of MGNREGA,” he said. “We’re going to fight this and we’re not going to stop until it’s repealed like the three farm bills,” he said.
Not bankruptcy
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah listed welfare measures, guarantee schemes and allocations to various ministries and slammed BJP leaders for calling the government bankrupt. “If the government was really bankrupt, how come all these development works are being completed?” he tried to know.
Published – 24 Jan 2026 21:19 IST
