Kharge targets Nitish Kumar, says one person quitting Mahagathbandhan will not weaken opposition
Both the BJD and the BJP in separate statements said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's visit will have no impact on Odisha politics. The Odisha Assembly election is scheduled to be held in or before June 2024.
Bhubaneswar: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed 'Odisha Bachao Samavesh' in Bhubaneswar on Monday. He targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), likening them with poison. He also attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who dumpted I.N.D.I.A bloc by joining BJP-led NDA, saying one person quitting Mahagathbandhan will not weaken us.
We will defeat BJP, he asserted.
"RSS and BJP are like poison, keep away from them," said Kharge at a the rally in Bhubaneswar.
If Modi comes to power after Lok Sabha polls, there will be a dictatorship, no democracy and no elections, he added.
Earlier, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sarat Pattanayak said the Congress president arrived at the Biju Patnaik International Airport at 11.45 am and then proceeded to the meeting venue at the Lower PMG square.
"People from villages, block and booth level attended the rally of Congress president who is coming on a maiden visit to Odisha", Pattanayak said.
He said party workers are enthused by the visit of the Congress president.
This will be Kharge's first visit to Odisha after taking charge as Congress president.
During his visit to Odisha, the Congress president will also review Rahul Gandhi's Odisha leg of Bharat Jodo Naya Yatra, which is likely to enter the state on February 14.
Kharge will also meet leaders of other parties in the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
(With agencies inputs)
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