Kharge condemns Bhagwat’s ‘independence’ remark, warns him against making such statements

PTI, Jan 15, 2025, 12:20 PM IST

Mallikarjun Kharge (pti/file)

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday condemned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks that India’s ‘true independence’ was established on Ram temple consecration day and warned that it would become difficult for him to move around in the country if he continues to make such statements.

Addressing party leaders after the inauguration of the Congress’ new headquarters located at 9A, Kotla Road here, Kharge said RSS people believe that independence was achieved with the Ram Temple inauguration and don’t remember the independence of 1947 as they did not fight for it.

“You would know that those people who had nothing to do with independence and did not fight for it are making such statements. I read the statement by the RSS chief. He said real independence was established with the inauguration of the Ram Temple. He had inaugurated the temple along with (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi…Modi believes that independence was achieved in 2014 when he became PM,” he said.

“RSS people believe that independence was established with Ram Temple inauguration. It is a matter of shame that even though we got independence in 1947 they are not acknowledging it because they did not struggle for it, go to jail, and therefore they do not remember. We remember because our people died for independence and struggled for it,” he said.

Kharge condemned Bhagwat’s statement and said that “it would become difficult for him to move around in the country if he keeps giving such statements”.

The Congress chief’s remarks come after Bhagwat said the date of the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi”, as the “true independence” of Bharat, which faced “parachakra” (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day.

Kharge said the Congress headquarters would become the centre of fighting forces that are working against the Constitution and democracy.

Quoting B R Ambedkar, Kharge said those who forget history cannot make history.

“So to those people who forget the work done by the Congress, that it had attained independence for the country, I would say you will not be able to make history. I say this as parties nowadays are spending their time only in abusing Congress instead of working for the country,” he said.

Kharge said the Congress stands on the power of ideas.

“All the major national heroes including Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Sardar Patel, Nehru, Maulana Azad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad are our heritage,” Kharge said.

He said many historical works have been done during the Congress rule that changed the face of the country.

“Under the leadership of Nehruji, India became the largest democracy in the world. The best Constitution of the world was made under the leadership of Ambedkar ji. The slogan of Jai Jawan – Jai Kisan was given under the leadership of Shastri Ji. During Indira Gandhi’s tenure, banks were nationalised and the privy purse was abolished,” he said.

Indira Gandhi took forward the work of the green revolution and the white revolution, and defeated Pakistan while liberating Bangladesh, the Congress chief said.

During the tenure of P V Narasimha Rao, the country got a new direction through Liberalisation and Economic Reforms and during the time of Rajiv Gandhi, historic works like the communication and information revolution, the automobile revolution, Panchayati Raj and the right to vote at the age of 18 years were done.

The RTI, RTE, Food Security, MNREGA and Land Acquisition Act were enacted during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh, he recalled.

“I am proud that I became the President of the Congress Block Committee in the year 1969 during the time of Indira Gandhi ji. Then in 2022, I was elected as the Congress President. I am grateful to all of you for electing me as your president. We all have stood firm on the ideology of Congress, were firm and will remain so,” he asserted.

Kharge also paid tributes to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last month, and said the library of the Congress headquarters will be named ‘Dr. Manmohan Singh Library’.

He also recalled Singh’s words that history would be kinder to him and said that it was indeed so.

Kharge credited Sonia Gandhi for picking Singh as the PM and said she also deserves praise when people hail the former prime minister across the globe.

“The Congress has seen many ups and downs in 140 years, but has never lost patience and its leaders have taught us to not be pompous if there is a huge victory and not to be dejected if there is a defeat. We have to establish contact with the public, support their struggle with unity and discipline, and find solutions,” he said.

“Everyone saw the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Due to his hard work and sacrifice, it achieved unprecedented success. Due to this, people became aware of basic issues like protection of the Constitution, caste census, inflation, unemployment,” he said.

The result of this was that after the Lok Sabha elections, even the anti-constitutional forces started talking about the Constitution, Kharge said.

“The new headquarters of Congress will give a new energy to the party, with the help of which we will fight and succeed,” he said.

Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, and K C Venugopal, among other senior party leaders, were present on the occasion.