On Sunday, the Congress president ratcheted up the pressure on the ruling party, with some pointed remarks: he said PM Narendra Modi is ‘destroying’ India and US President Donald Trump is doing the same to the rest of the world. With religion, exam results and the cost of living all on the table, he made the case for an about-face in politics and for those in charge to answer for it.
A sharper tone, bigger stakes
Speaking at a get-together in Karnataka to mark B K Hariprasad’s new role as state chief, Kharge put forward a simple point: the way things are being run is making life harder for everyone. He was clear that while the people pay the price, only a select few in power are reaping the rewards.
'Modi is destroying the country. Trump is destroying the whole world. And they call each other good friends,’ Kharge put it. He told his workers to go out and make it plain to the people how these two are to blame for their troubles, and to show them which of our policies are in their best interest.
Religion, money and accountability debate
Then there is Ayodhya. Kharge zeroed in on the Ram Temple, where he says there have been no end of irregularities in the way donations have been handled. ‘We are talking of some Rs 5,000 crore being misused,’ he said, with figures from reports to back him up, and that the faithful are being left out of pocket.
For Kharge, the numbers don’t add up and there is a lack of any real transparency. He even had to ask why it was the Prime Minister who opened the temple and not a man of the cloth. Now he wants to know where the money from the collection boxes has gone and who is to be held to account for it.
The UP CM has asked everyone to be patient for 15 days while a Special Investigation Team does its job. Kharge has no time for that. If the government, the temple and the law are on hand, he asks, why should we wait to put a stop to any impropriety?
Why Ayodhya has returned to centre stage
You can trace the flow of contributions back to L K Advani’s Rath Yatra, but the book-keeping has never been in order, according to Kharge. He sees the issue as a litmus test: is religion being put to use to stand up for the little guy, or to cover up for bad financial housekeeping?
He made the point that when people cast their vote in the name of God and the Ram Mandir, you have to wonder if those in office are actually upholding that. The only way to find out is with a proper probe and some hard-nosed accountability.
Education flashpoint: NEET under fire
With education, you have the other side of his argument. The Centre has botched the NEET, he says, and in doing so has let down the students and their parents. It is no surprise then that he is once again calling for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step aside.
What we need is to look at what works in Karnataka with the CET and factor in PUC marks with the NEET, he suggests. When faith in the national exam is in tatters, a mix like that is the only way to be fair and merit-based.
And he doesn’t mince words about the new curriculum either, saying it is leading students astray and that too much of an ideological bent is being allowed into our schools and colleges.
He put it down to a need for political control: those with RSS ties are being put in the driver’s seat, from the classroom to the vice-chancellor’s office.
Foreign policy and the price at the pump: Kharge’s take
Kharge has a way of making foreign policy feel like a household issue. He pointed a finger at Trump for the hike in fuel costs and said that while non-alignment was what kept things in balance after we became independent, we’ve let that go. In his view, Modi’s brand of personal bonhomie hasn’t been good for the common man. “You can call everyone your friend and give them a hug,” Kharge said, “but in the end, you have a government that has left families to be squeezed by high fuel bills and other headwinds.”
Where power and the Constitution come in
Then there is the matter of inflation and jobs. Kharge made no bones about it: the people in charge are hoarding the benefits and not looking out for the worker, the woman or the student. “A big trouble is coming for Modi, wait and watch,” he told us.
For the poor and the underdog, the Congress president sees the Constitution as the only thing standing in the way of being run over. The well-off may not see its worth, but it is what protects the rights of those with no say.
He wants his party on the ground, talking to people and making plain how the way we are governed affects their day-to-day. It’s more than an election pitch; it’s about some basic institutional integrity.
To make his point, Kharge laid out a list of what needs to be done:
– Look into the claims of misused Ram Temple funds
– Don’t sit on your hands for 15 days for an SIT
– Dharmendra Pradhan should step down
– Have a re-think on NEET, factoring in CET and PUC
– Put constitutional safeguards back where they belong
Religion is not to be used as a means to an end, he insisted. People vote for God and the temple, and then discover their faith has been put to work to ‘loot’ and keep the poor in their place.
The same goes for education. If you are a student with an exam to clear, you can’t afford for the system to be more about ideology than what you learn. Trust is a hard thing to put back together once it’s gone.
When it comes to our relations with the outside world, Kharge is saying that all that diplomatic show has a cost. You don’t get to trade off strategic sense for optics and expect fuel prices to stay put.
All these things – whether it’s a religious donation or an exam – come down to one thing: the public’s trust in how they are being led. And he would have you believe that is in tatters.
In Karnataka, where he made B K Hariprasad the new state chief, the message was to build the party with some discipline. Stay on the issues, don’t waver on values, and be clear about what a policy will do for a job or a school fee.
There is a sense of urgency to it. Relying on institutions to do the right thing on their own hasn’t panned out. You have to be on top of it to get some fairness back in public life.
In the end, for Kharge, the Constitution is the way to set things right. It isn’t some high-minded theory; it is how you put a stop to abuse and make the relationship between the citizen and the state workable again.
