New Delhi, Mar 26 (FN Agency) Stepping up its attack on the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said his party will give a befitting reply if anyone attempts to ‘crush’ them, and will continue to fight to “protect the democracy”. “BJP government and Narendra Modi ji is thinking that we are ‘weak’. If someone tries to ‘crush’ us with arrogance, then we will give a befitting reply.We will continue to fight to protect the democracy, constitution, and freedom of speech and expression,” Kharge said while addressing the party’s, ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’, organised at Raj Ghat here over disqualification of its former chief Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha as a member. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress president said, “ Try all your efforts to ‘bury’ us. But you can’t crush us. If you are a ‘patriot’, why don’t you send them (Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi) to jail who looted the people of the country.”
Defending former Congress chief over his Modi surname” remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019, Kharge said, “The remarks made in Kolar was during election. It was not to insult anyone. But, they registered a case in Surat (Gujarat) to stop Rahul Gandhi from speaking the truth.” “Many such speeches were made by Modi. He used ‘wrong’ words against Gandhi family and Congress,” he claimed. Kharge added, “Rahul Gandhi ji is fighting for the people of this country, for you, for the women and for the youth. He is fighting against unemployment and inflation.” Talking about the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’, the Congress chief said, “Today’s ‘satyagraha’ is from 10 am to 5 pm. We will organise such ‘satyagraha’ across the country (over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification).” Kharge also expressed his gratitude to the Opposition parties for extending their support to the former party chief. “I am happy that all the Opposition parties unitedly stood with Rahul Gandhi. I express my gratitude to them,” he said. The former Congress president was disqualified from Lok Sabha as a member on Friday, a day after he was convicted in a defamation case by a court in Gujarat’s Surat on Thursday for his alleged “all thieves have Modi surname” remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019.