Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government over the tariffs imposed on India by the United States and the deportation of Indians from the US. He also addressed Congress’s poor performance in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Delhi, where the grand old party drew a blank for the third time in a row.
Addressing general secretaries and in-charges, including those appointed last week, at a meeting held at the party’s headquarters at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi, the Congress veteran leader attacked the Modi government, saying that PM Modi failed to oppose US tariffs on India, which is an insult to the country and Indians.
आज AICC General Secretaries और Incharges की बैठक में मेरे शुरूआती वक्तव्य के कुछ अंश –
हमें काँग्रेस पार्टी की ideology के COMMITTED ऐसे लोगों को आगे बढ़ाना चाहिए जो विपरीत माहौल में भी चटटान की तरह हमारे साथ खड़े हैं।
मैं यहां एक सबसे जरूरी बात Accountability के बारे में भी… pic.twitter.com/UcJp3QPWoc
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) February 19, 2025
On February 13, hours before Prime Minister Modi’s bilateral meeting with Trump in the White House, the US President announced reciprocal tariffs.
Under the plan, the Trump administration “will work strenuously to counter non-reciprocal trading arrangements with trading partners by determining the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff for each foreign trading partner.”
Kharge also attacked the central government over the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants from the US. “The Modi government has failed to stop the insult of Indians deported from the USA,” he said. The comments from the Congress president came in the wake of reports that several illegal immigrants were sent back from the United States under harsh conditions.
A US military aircraft carrying 112 “illegal” Indian immigrants landed at Amritsar airport late on Sunday evening, the third such plane bringing deportees amid a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration against illegal immigrants.
On February 5, a US military aircraft carrying the first batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar. Of the deportees in the first batch, 33 were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab. The deportees claimed their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey, and they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.
On Saturday evening, a second aircraft brought 116 deportees from the United States, amid questions raised by several political leaders over the BJP-led Centre’s move to allow planes carrying immigrants to land in Amritsar.
While addressing the Congress’s poll debacle in the national capital, Kharge asserted that the grand old party fought polls despite a lack of resources and urged party leaders to strive to emerge as the main opposition party.
The BJP stormed back to power in Delhi after 27 years after securing 48 out of 70 seats, ending Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) 10-year rule in the national capital. In the assembly polls, the Congress improved its vote share slightly; however, the party failed to open its account.