Congress Not Interested in PM’s Post: Kharge at Bengaluru Opposition Meet

Bengaluru: The Congress is not interested in power or the post of prime minister, said Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday.

Leaders of 26 opposition parties met in Bengaluru to craft their strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In his inaugural address on the second day of the Opposition meet, Kharge said, “Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect our Constitution, democracy, secularism and social justice”.

He admitted to differences among opposition parties at the state level and said, “These differences are not so big that we cannot put them behind for the sake of the common man and middle class suffering due to inflation, for the sake of our youth suffering due to unemployment, for the sake of the poor, Dalits, adivasis and the minorities whose rights are being crushed silently behind the scenes.”

The Congress chief alleged that every institution in the country has been turned into a weapon against the opposition. “The CBI, ED, Income Tax are routinely used. False criminal cases are filed against our leaders so that they get caught in the legal process. Constitutional authorities are used to suspend our MPs. MLAs are being blackmailed or bribed to move to BJP and topple governments,” he added.