PM twisted facts, misled nation on Nehru: Kharge

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of twisting facts and misleading the country about Jawaharlal Nehru's letter on reservations and speaking the untruth during his Lok Sabha address last week.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

Speaking in the Upper House on 75 years of the Constitution, Kharge refuted the charges Modi levelled on the Congress during the latter's speech in the Lok Sabha on Saturday, and questioned the continued violence in Manipur.

"The PM either lives in the past or in an imaginary world but never lives in the present," Kharge said, alleging that in the National Democratic Alliance's 11 years of power, the Constitution and democracy were not strengthened. "If you twist the facts before the nation and attempt to defame, then you should apologise in this House and other House and before people of this country."

The Congress president delved into the past during the debate to counter the PM's allegations against Nehru — Modi had alleged that India's first PM was against reservations — and defended amendments to the Constitution. In his speech, Modi had said that the first amendment to the Constitution was done through the back door and muzzled free speech.

Kharge also emphasised that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and bodies such as the Jana Sangh and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had opposed the Tricolour and the Constitution.