Govt put in place undeclared emergency in Delhi: Kharge

The Congress on Friday attacked the Modi Government over the unprecedented curbs in place in Delhi ahead of the CJP-led protest, alleging that there is an “undeclared emergency” in the national Capital and that the Centre is scared of the people.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made a play on the iconic Sholay dialogue to take a swipe at the government over the restrictions in place ahead of the protest.

The protest call has been given by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and some student organisations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission. Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Kharge said, “They (the government) are scared. ‘Aur jo aadmi darta hai vo aaj nahi toh kal marta hai’.” His remarks were an apparent play on the iconic dialogues delivered by the character Gabbar Singh — ‘Jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya’ — in the 1975 cult classic Sholay.

Kharge also said two commissioners of the Election Commission have come out openly and stated that CEC Gyanesh Kumar has made a “mistake”.

“Both commissioners themselves said that we raised objections several times and explained to Gyanesh Kumar, but he did not agree. Despite the objections of the two election commissioners, the Modi government is not ready to remove Gyanesh Kumar from his post,” Kharge said.

“Gyanesh Kumar is a small fish, but behind him are (Narendra) Modi-(Amit) Shah and their government. The Modi Government wants all rights to be stripped away and dictatorship to be imposed. If dictatorship comes, democracy will end, which will also wipe out the Constitution and all rights. We are fighting for the sake of democracy, the constitution, and the people’s interests,” Kharge said.

“Today, we will meet the President on this issue and tell her that we have reached this point only because of the right to vote. If the right to vote is taken away, complete dictatorship will ensue,” he said. Congress general secretary in-charge communications KC Venugopal alleged that there was an “undeclared emergency” in place in Delhi.