Chouhan slams Kharge over illegal remark on Modi, Shah

Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday hit back at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “illegal”, saying the remark was an insult to constitutional institutions and the mandate of the people.

Kharge, speaking in Karnataka, demanded the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, saying “all the elections were illegal” and that Modi, Shah and chief ministers of all the states were “illegal”. He also called for fresh polls to be held through ballot papers.

“The statement made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at the direction of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is yet another example of their frustration, defeatist mindset and the Congress party’s longstanding practice of attacking constitutional institutions,” Chouhan said in a statement. “Kharge calling the prime minister and the home minister ‘illegal’ is an insult to constitutional institutions and the mandate of the people,” he said.

Calling it an insult to the “democratic wisdom” of 140 crore Indians, the senior BJP leader also accused the Congress of disrespecting the Constitution. “Whenever the people of the country reject the Congress party in elections, it begins conspiring to discredit democracy, the Election Commission, EVMs and the mandate of the people,” he said.

Kharge had also alleged that the EVMs were being misused and said that “their own people” are saying this.

“Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. Modi is an illegal prime minister, Shah is an illegal minister, and all the chief ministers who have been elected anywhere are illegal. All of them should be dissolved, elections should be held, and elections should be conducted through ballot papers,” Kharge told reporters in Kalaburagi.

Reacting sharply to Kharge’s remarks, Chouhan said calling the prime minister, who has been elected by the people of the country with a full majority and a record mandate, “illegal” reflects the Congress party’s arrogance and its distrust of the democratic system.

“Does democracy, in the Congress party’s view, become legitimate only when the Gandhi family or the Congress party is in power?” he asked. The BJP makes it clear that the country’s democracy stands firmly on the foundation of the Constitution “given” by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, and the people will continue to respond to such “false and baseless” statements democratically time and again, the BJP leader asserted. Chouhan also slammed Kharge for “misleading” people regarding the process of appointment of Election Commissioners, saying the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 was passed by both Houses of Parliament in a completely democratic, constitutional and transparent manner.

“The Leader of Opposition has been made an integral part of the Selection Committee, thereby ensuring the voice of the Opposition,” he added.

When a “statutory and transparent” system has been established today, the Congress party is making “baseless allegations”, Chouhan charged.

Chouhan said the Congress may have forgotten its own history, but its governments in the past appointed Election Commissioners “arbitrarily” without any law or transparent Selection Committee and merely based on a note from the Prime Minister’s Office, and later rewarded them with ministerial positions and membership of Parliament.

Chouhan said updating electoral rolls, removing fake and duplicate names, and adding eligible citizens is a continuous and statutory process of the Election Commission. The Election Commission accepts claims and objections in a transparent manner under the prescribed rules.

But the Congress wants to keep its “politics of appeasement” alive by creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion in the name of the “poor” and Muslim minorities, the BJP leader alleged.

Every BJP karyakarta stands only for lawful and fair voting, he added.

On Kharge’s call for holding elections on ballot papers, Chouhan said the Congress wants to push the country back to the era of booth capturing, ballot box looting and violence associated with ballot papers in the 1980s and 1990s, despite the Supreme Court having “repeatedly” upheld the reliability and fairness of the EVMs.

“When the Congress party wins in Karnataka, Telangana or Himachal Pradesh, it has no objection to EVMs. However, when the people reject the Congress party’s corruption and divisive politics, the blame is immediately put on EVMs,” he said.

Chouhan alleged that attacking constitutional institutions, creating chaos on the streets and defaming the country’s democracy on the global stage has become the Congress’ agenda due to its continuous electoral defeats.

The Congress has now become devoid of issues, he said.

“When the mandate is in their favour, the Congress party has faith in democracy and the electoral process, but as soon as the mandate goes against them, the Congress party starts questioning EVMs and constitutional institutions,” he added.