Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes back to power in 2024, there will be no more elections in the future, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Monday, addressing the “Odisha Bachao Samavesh” rally in state capital Bhubaneswar.
“There will be no elections. (He) won’t let elections happen. There will be dictatorship,” Kharge said, adding, “This is the last chance to vote. After this, there will be no voting. Then elections will happen, the way it happens for Russian President (Vladimir) Putin. Iske baad no chunav.”
Taking a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who walked out of the INDIA bloc to return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Sunday, Kharge said the BJP had hijacked an Opposition leader. “You saw they took one of our leaders from the INDIA alliance yesterday. (They keep) giving notices to everyone, threatening people… ‘if you don’t leave his friendship, we will see you’. Because of fear, some are leaving their parties, some leaving the alliance,” Kharge said.
He asked, “If there are such cowards, will the country survive? Will the Constitution survive? Will democracy survive?”
Speaking about Nitish Kumar’s exit, Kharge said if one or two people go, the alliance would not weaken. “We will overcome this. We will work together and defeat the BJP and (Naveen) Patnaik,” he said of the Odisha chief minister’s tacit support of the BJP.