Government suppressing Opposition voice: Mallikarjun Kharge; AICC says ‘PM speech full of lies’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that attempts are being made to suppress the voice of Opposition and warned of “danger to democracy, Constitution and institutions” when the country celebrated its 77th Independence Day.

Kharge, who hoisted the tricolour at the I-day celebration at the Congress headquarters in the national capital, stayed away from the Red Fort function, citing an eye problem and the tight security which he said could have affected his schedule to attend the AICC event.

“It pains me to say that today there is a great danger to democracy, the Constitution and institutions,” Kharge said. “Attempts are being made to suppress the voice of the opposition MPs in Parliament by suspending them. When I stood up to speak (in Parliament), the mike was stitched off. On the one hand they (ruling dispensation) play the drum of democracy, and on the other hand the voice of the opposition is suppressed.”


On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s I-Day speech, the AICC said that instead of sharing with the people what the government has achieved in the last nine years, “PM Modi gave a crass election speech filled with distortions, lies, exaggerations and vague promises”.

The party’s communication in charge, Jairam Ramesh, alleged that Modi underplayed the Manipur issue. “The prime minister barely addressed the devastation caused by the violence in Manipur, casually comparing it with incidents in other parts of the country…” Ramesh said.