Tea vendor became PM because Congress preserved democracy: Mallikarjun Kharge

MUMBAI: A tea vendor could become India’s Prime Minister because the Congress preserved democracy, AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge said here while addressing party workers on Sunday.

Apparently insinuating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was functioning in a dictatorial manner, Kharge emphasised the Congress party’s ‘democratic’ credentials while addressing the workers.

“When he speaks, Modi alone speaks. He doesn’t allow others to speak. He asks us what the Congress did in past 70 years. I ask, if we had not done anything, would Modi have been sitting where he is today? Had a tea vendor become a Prime Minister if the Congress had not preserved democracy?” Kharge said.

Kharge also took potshots at the PM saying he only makes pompous announcements that are far removed from the reality. “He call Congress the ‘Bail gadi’, but people know that the bullet train would be bringing in most number of criminals,” Kharge said, adding that if the government wanted to bring the bullet train, it should first take care of the tracks.

“How will bullet train run while one or the other bridge is falling every other day?” Kharge asked, referring to the accident in Mumbai last week. He also blamed the BJP for cow vigilantism.

Addressing the media after the meet, Kharge said that the Congress would approach all the political parties to forge a grand alliance before the Lok Sabha polls. “We shall not let the secular votes split,” he said.