Why doesn't PM Modi suspend leaders who speak about changing Constitution: Kharge

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 15 (ANI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not suspend people from his party who speak about changing the Constitution.
"If you speak so much about your courage, you already have a 56-inch chest, then why don't you scare them, suspend them from the party?... This is to save the Constitution, the country and democracy," Kharge said speaking at a joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Wednesday.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are partners in the INDIA bloc to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge pointed out that apart from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde, several leaders of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh spoke about changing the Constitution but the Prime Minister did not act against them.
"Our RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat said that if they come to power they will bring changes in the Constitution. Another leader in Karnataka said that they need a two-thirds majority to change the Constitution. Leaders of Uttar Pradesh speak about changing the Constitution so frequently that I feel surprised that PM Modi keeps silent," Kharge said.
Speaking about alleged abuse of election procedure by the BJP, Kharge said, "Wherever big leaders of the BJP are contesting, opposition party leaders are being stopped from filing nominations. They are also threatening our election agents."
"I have seen in Hyderabad that one woman candidate of BJP was checking women's identities by removing the burqa. Is this how free and fair elections are conducted? How can you conduct elections by instilling fear? There should be a level playing ground," he added.
Kharge said that he is confident that the INDIA bloc will be forming the government on June 4, the day of the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls.
"The people of India have decided the farewell of PM Modi. Seeing the situation in the country, I can say with belief that the INDIA bloc is going to form the new government on June 4," he said.
Kharge said that the ongoing polls is being fought to save democracy and the Constitution and are between the poor and those who stay with the rich.
"The 2024 elections are to save the country's democracy and the Constitution. This is also an election between two ideologies. On one side is the combined effort of all parties who are fighting against the poor and on the other hand are those who stay with the rich, doing whatever they think fit and fighting on the basis of religion," the Congress chief said.
In an attack on the BJP government over unemployment, Kharge said, "Our fight is for the poor who do not even get a single meal in a day, who do not get employment, do not get jobs even after graduation, after being engineers, doctors, after holding diplomas. Despite so many vacancies in the government the central government does not want to fill them up. Our alliance is against unemployment and price rise."
Kharge highlighted that the ongoing elections are being fought to safeguard the country's future and the rights of the future generation.
"This election is for the country's future, to protect our future generation and safeguard their rights, and to safeguard the reservations of the weaker sections like Dalits, Adivasis and backward. If the Constitution is saved, all these can be saved," he said.
The Congress chief pointed out that if we are slaves to an autocratic rule, people cannot vote for someone from their ideology.
"We all should work together to protect the future, democracy and the Constitution of the country. Otherwise, we will become slaves again. If there won't be a democracy but autocracy and dictatorship, how will you elect someone based on your ideology?" Kharge said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who was at the joint press conference said that after the fourth phase of polls, it seems that the mountain of lies built by the BJP is going to come down and a new INDIA government will be formed on June 4.
"The fourth phase of elections is over. The mountain of lies that the Narendra Modi government had built has peaked and now it is coming down and stumbling. With their countdown, their mountain is also coming down. I would like to congratulate the press for the times coming ahead on June 4 because that day will be celebrated for freedom of the press as well. The Bharatiya Janata Party is caught in its own negative narrative," Yadav said.
Yadav said that owing to their defeat, the language of the BJP in their campaign speeches has changed.
"In the 10 years of government in Delhi and seven years in Uttar Pradesh, all their promises came out to be lies. The chariot of the Bharatiya Janata Party has not stuck but has subsided and so their language has changed. Instead of asking for votes for their work, they have changed the language of their campaign speeches," the Samajwadi Party chief said.
Speaking about the poor state of farmers under the BJP regime, Yadav said, "The false promises that were given to farmers of doubling their income and the injustice brought upon them through the black laws have not been forgotten...In their government, lakhs of farmers died by suicide, especially in Bundelkhand."
On the performance of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends the maximum number of MPs to Parliament, Yadav said, "The INDIA bloc is winning 79 seats in Uttar Pradesh and there is a fight in just one seat." (ANI)