Bengaluru, June 21 -- Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday claimed the two leaders, who call themselves "good friends," were destroying their respective domains-one, the country, the other the world.
Targeting the BJP over allegations of embezzlement of funds linked to the Ram Temple trust in Ayodhya, he claimed there was "loot" in the name of religion.
Kharge attacked the Modi government over the conduct of the NEET examination, accusing it of "betraying" students and parents, and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
He was addressing a mega convention here where B K Hariprasad assumed charge as Karnataka Congress president.
"Modi is destroying the country. Trump is destroying the whole world. Both of them call themselves good friends. Both good friends-you are bringing a bad name to the country, and people are suffering because of both of you," Kharge claimed.
Blaming Trump for rising fuel prices, he claimed, "India followed a policy of non-alignment since Nehru's time and maintained good relations with all countries. But that policy has been abandoned, and Modi, by going around calling everyone his friend and hugging them, has brought us to this situation."
"We (Congress workers) should keep in mind which government will be beneficial for the country and its people. We should inform people about it. Go to the people and make them understand what is happening," he said, calling on Congress workers to strengthen the party without compromising its core values and ideology.
Noting that donations and materials were collected for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya following L K Advani's Rath Yatra, Kharge alleged that no proper account had been given of those collections and claimed there were now reports of financial irregularities linked to the temple.
"There are reports that about Rs 5,000 crore has been misused. The priests are robbing the money. Ram naam japna, paraya maal apna (chant the name of Ram and make someone else's property your own). A loot has happened in the name of Ram. The temple was constructed to loot crores of rupees," he alleged.
Pointing out that the Ram Mandir was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi, Kharge said that temples are usually inaugurated by swamijis and seers, but in this case, the PM had inaugurated it himself.
"The money from the donation boxes of temples is going somewhere. Whether his own people are behind it or someone else, it should be investigated," he said. "Why do you need 15 days when God is with you, the temple is with you, Modi is with you, and you are the CM? Put those who have looted in the name of Ram behind bars."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.