"THERE IS ALREADY AN UNDECLARED EMERGENCY"

As convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.), Mallikarjun Kharge has the humongous task of getting the 26-party combine on the same page on seat-sharing arrangements and a common narrative to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. The 81-year-old Congress president also has to galvanise the Grand Old Party to improve on its abysmal tally of 52 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Kharge took time off his hectic schedule to speak exclusively to Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa and Executive Editor Kaushik Deka on a range of key election issues. Excerpts:

How do you expect the Congress to perform in the 2024 Lok Sabha election? What are your prime challenges?

The people’s faith in the Congress and its allies is mast (amazing). We hope to cross the majority mark. However, we are facing a resource crunch. Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi is not providing us a level playing field. In a democracy, if you don’t give space to everyone, it will not be known which side has the public’s support. He bulldozes his opponents. From the Congress and other parties, 25 leaders have either joined the BJP or become allies. Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had filed CBI and ED cases against them. After these leaders switched sides, they closed the cases against 23 of them. Modi keeps calling the Congress a corrupt party. He says he wants to end corruption. But he has the corrupt sit next to him. He says the corrupt will not be spared. But they get spared if they shake hands with him. He tries to create the impression that he is the only honest person, all others are corrupt. But the truth is, Modi’s government is the most corrupt of all.

Q. That is a serious allegation, where is the proof for this?