Lok Sabha polls fight against 'Manuwadi' ideology, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was not a fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but against the "Manuwadi" ideology of the ruling dispensation.

Addressing a poll rally for Congress' Nagpur Lok Sabha candidate Vikas Thakre, who is pitted against Union minister and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari, he said his party was fighting to save Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution that safeguards the rights of 140 crore Indians.

"Thakre is not a high profile candidate but a ground level worker. He has been selected to defeat Manuwadi ideology (thought process based on the contents of Manusmriti). The 2024 Lok Sabha polls is not a fight against Modi or Gadkari but against Manuwadi ideology," Kharge asserted.

If the RSS-BJP wins, there will be no elections henceforth and they will finish the Constitution, Kharge warned.

The Congress worked for the country's freedom but now Modi asks what the party has done in the past 70 years, he said.

"The RSS did nothing during the freedom struggle but now they come asking for votes in the name of Ram Temple and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Leave alone a photo of Ambedkar, these people did not even keep the national flag in their offices," Kharge said.

The youth do not know the history of these organisations and are only misled by Modi's falsehoods, he further said.

Under Modi, the GDP of the country was growing at 5-6 per cent, whereas it was 8-9 per cent during UPA rule, Kharge said.

"Modi calls the opposition corrupt but his party inducts tainted leaders. The BJP is a laundry where the corrupt are inducted by Modi, put in for washing by Amit Shah and taken out (clean chit) by Gadkari," the Congress president said.

People got the right to vote after the Constitution was drafted due to the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Ambedkar, he said.

"The Congress' manifesto is all inclusive and will take care of the poor, backwards, farmers and all sections of society," Kharge said.