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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the Opposition would bring a "public impeachment" against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in INDIA's bloc's programme on Friday, while challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct elections using ballot papers.
Speaking to ANI, Kharge said MPs would gather to express their views on the conduct of the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging that democratic norms were being undermined. "The conduct of Gyanesh Kumar and the scheme to dismantle democratic normsacting on the directives of Modi-ji and Shah-ji- are making every effort to destroy democracy," Kharge said. Taking aim at the Prime Minister over remarks on ballot-paper elections, the Congress chief challenged him to hold a parliamentary election using paper ballots. "They are mocking the demand for ballot papers. Well, do it then! If you have the courage, dissolve Parliament and conduct the elections on ballot paper," he said. Kharge added that victories in smaller elections would not address public concerns, saying that people wanted justice and that issues such as inflation, unemployment and problems faced by young people should be central to public discussion. "Today, the discussion should be about inflation, unemployment, and the issues faced by the youth. That is what needs to be talked about. Setting all of that aside, they keep saying Congress is nowhere to be seen here or there. There was a time when they had only two seats in the entire Parliament; should we keep harping on that?" he added. He also criticised PM Modi for making what he described as snide remarks about the Congress, adding that the Opposition would raise its concerns through the planned programme. Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also questioned the Prime Minister's remarks on ballot-paper elections, pointing to the results of recent Legislative Council elections in Varanasi and Nagpur. "Let the Prime Minister answer this first: didn't the BJP lose two MLC seats in Varanasithe Prime Minister's own home turfin elections held via paper ballots? And in Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, didn't the RSS candidate lose?" Karat said. She urged PM Modi not to be arrogant and accused the BJP of seeking to manipulate the electoral system to secure victories. "Therefore, Prime Minister, do not be so arrogant. And do not resort to desperate, authoritarian measures to secure a victory by manipulating the entire electoral system. The public is watchingand the public also knows how to respond," she added. This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jab at the Congress, following the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) clean sweep in Karnataka Legislative Council elections, winning all four seats. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections were held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?" (ANI)
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