NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched an offensive against Congress president and leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge over the election results of the three northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Kharge was in Chennai when the counting of votes was in progress on Thursday. Talking to media persons in the Tamil Nadu capital, Kharge said the Congress had contested in a few constituencies in the three northeastern states. He also said there was a thought by the party that an alliance with other parties might help secure a majority of seats.
Asked about the Congress’s prospects and whether the results of the three states would have any impact on the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the party president said, “No, it has nothing to do (with 2024 Lok Sabha general election). It is a small states' election. Usually, the northeast parties go with the central government trends but many leaders are committed to national politics. They support the Congress, the secular parties, democracy and the Constitution."
PM Modi condemned Kharge for making light of the three smaller states. While speaking at the victory celebrations of the BJP at the party headquarters on Thursday evening after the election results were declared, he said, “After today's results, the Congress made public its hatred for the humble and small things. The Congress and its president are saying that these are small states. Their results do not have much significance.”
He said such statements were made because there was no feeling of uniting the country. “What they said is an insult to the people of these states and their mandate. The Congress is committing a major blunder by viewing these smaller states with a sense of rejection. Due to this thought, the Congress always took the country's poor as petty people. They considered the Dalits, tribal people and OBCs as petty people.”
Prime Minister Modi charged that the Congress played politics by looking at the numerical strength of communities and vote banks. “This is the mentality which caused grave harm to the country after independence. When our government constructed toilets for the poor, the Congress termed it as a petty work. When we opened the bank accounts for the poor, the Congress labelled that also as a petty thing. The Congress also mocked us when we launched the cleanliness drive.”
Continuing in the same breath, Modi further said, “I wish to tell the Congress that this very hatred against humble people and smaller states is going to drown you in the forthcoming elections.”
The Congress won three seats in Tripura, five seats in Meghalaya and it failed to open its account in Nagaland. All the three state assemblies have 60 seats each.
The BJP secured a majority in Tripura for the second consecutive election by winning 32 seats, it won 12 of the 20 seats it contested in Nagaland. It will form government in Nagaland as its pre-poll coalition partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won 25 seats.
The BJP won just two seats out of all the 60 constituencies it had fielded its candidates on. However, it is all set to form government along with the National People’s Party (NPP) which has won 26 seats in a hung assembly.
The BJP was in power in Meghalaya along with NPP in Meghalaya headed by the latter’s Conrad Sangma till it broke the alliance ahead of the assembly election. The two are all set to join hands once again.
