Nagpur: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge turned the tables on the Bharatiya Janata Party by saying that it is the party that is engaged in “baatna and Kaatna,”

He was referring to the slogan “batenge to katenge’ popularised by UP chief minister Adityamnath Yogi and adopted by the RSS.

Addressing a press conference here, Kharge said while Yogi talked of Batenge , Katenge, Modi was raising a new but contradictory slogan of ‘Ek hai to safe hai.”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge At Deekshabhoomi In Nagpur Before His Election Campaign In Vidarbha On Saturday.

The BJP should make up its mind whether they want to divide or unite. “It is BJP which does nothing but give provocative speeches, misleading people by spreading lies and never practices what it preaches,” said Kharge. Such provocative speeches are made by Modi and his leaders only to divert attention from pressing issues like unemployment, agrarian crisis, failing law and order and security of women, he added.

Congress President On Financial Allocations

Reeling out figures from the official budget document of Karnataka government, Kharge said that financial allocations were made properly for each of the guarantees made by the Congress government in election promises to the people, he said each of the promised schemes was being implemented.

“It is shameful that a prime minister speaks blatant lies and says that Karnataka is not implementing the promised schemes,” he accused Modi of lying. He also dared Modi to prove that his government had ever fulfilled promises like bringing back black money, doubling farmers incomes, etc. “In my 60 years of public life, I have never seen a PM who speaks so many lies and gets away with it,” said Kharge.

Accusation Made By Congress President Against BJP

The Congress president also accused the BJP of forming the government in state with factions of Shiv Sena and NCP (Ajit) by using agencies like ED and CBI. And now they want a fresh lease for the illegitimate government and using all its chief ministers to campaign for the Mahayuti.

He said the Ram temple built by Modi in Ayodhya was leaking and so was the new Parliament building. The bullet train project was so much delayed and now the bridge constructed for it had already collapsed. Kharge who is here to campaign for party candidates in Amravati and Nagpur, appealed to voters not to trust the BJP which was full of liars and to ensure that the MVA candidates were elected with a majority in Maharashtra.

Akola: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the BJP-led Mahayuti will not allow Maharashtra to become an ATM for the ‘Mahaghotalebaaj (most corrupt)’ people of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

He claimed that the entire nation knows that Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) stands for corruption.

PM Modi Steps Up His Attack On The MVA

In his speech at the poll rally for the Mahayuti candidates in Akola, PM Modi stepped up his attack on the MVA (comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP) saying that “it stands for multi-crore scams, for extortion and token money. It stands for transfer posting racket and is completely immersed in scandals, loot and corruption.”

The PM chose to target the Congress in particular and the MVA in general when the Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is leaving no stone unturned to come back to power in the state.

“The Congress Party knows that the weaker the country is, the stronger the Congress will be. That is why it is the nature of Congress to make different castes fight. Since Independence, the Congress never allowed our Dalit community to unite. The Congress also kept our ST community divided into different castes. The Congress gets irritated on hearing the name OBCs. To ensure that the OBC community does not have a separate identity, the Congress has played various games,” claimed the Prime Minister.

He further said, “The Congress wants that different castes of SC society keep fighting and quarreling among themselves. Because the Congress knows that if different castes of SC society keep fighting among themselves, their voice will get dispersed, their votes will get dispersed and as soon as this happens, the way will be paved for Congress to come to power.”

PM Modi Comments On The Present Political Situation In Jammu & Kashmir

Commenting on the present political situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Prime Minister said, “Today, the country is concerned about another sensitive issue. In the J&K Legislative Assembly, Congress and its allies have passed a proposal to restore Article 370. I ask you, should Article 370 be reinstated in Jammu and Kashmir?”

To this, the people gathered at the rally shouted “no” saying that they would not allow the reinstatement of Article 370 in J&K.

He alleged that Congress and its allies neither care about Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, nor the courts nor the sentiments of the country.

“From Nehru ji till today, the top family of the Congress has repeatedly insulted Baba Saheb Ambedkar. During the time of Congress, Baba Saheb Ambedkar was not given credit for any major work done by him,” he remarked.

Referring to the slew of schemes launched in agriculture and empowerment of farmers by the Centre and the Mahayuti government, the Prime Minister said, “Our resolve is that the farmer himself should be so empowered that he emerges as the hero of the country’s progress! Therefore, we are increasing the income of the farmer and reducing their expenses. We started the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the Mahayuti government gave its support to it. The result is that farmers of Maharashtra are getting Rs 12,000 annually.”

“The Congress is snatching away the rights of the Scheduled Caste community. Cheating on the SCs is both ‘Chaal’ and ‘Charitra’ of the Congress party. You all must remember that ‘Ek Hai to Safe Hai’ (if united we are safe),” said the Prime Minister urging the people to foil attempts to divide on the lines of castes, religion, and creed.

Pakistan blast: A bombing claimed by Pakistani separatists killed 25 people, including 14 Army soldiers, at a railway station in Quetta in Balochistan province on Saturday, November 9. The blast hit as passengers waited on a platform at the main railway station in the provincial capital Quetta.

“Fourteen army personnel are among the 25 confirmed dead,” said Muhammad Baloch, a senior local police official, raising an earlier toll of 22 provided by the local government,

At the time of the blast, a train was ready to depart from the platform for Peshawar, reported news agency Reuters.

Quetta senior superintendent of Police (SSP) operations Mohammad Baloch earlier said the incident “seems to be a suicide blast” but it would be too early to say for sure, adding that an investigation was underway to ascertain the nature of the blast.

Mohammad Baloch, a senior police officer, said the bomb exploded when passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta.

In a statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said police and security forces had reached the site of the incident.

Shahid Rind said the nature of the blast was being investigated as the Bomb Disposal Squad was collecting evidence from the site, and a report on the incident had been sought.

Shahid Rind said the death toll from the attack was likely to rise as some of the wounded passengers were listed in critical condition.

The government official stated that an ‘emergency’ has been imposed in the hospitals there, adding that the “injured were being provided with medical aid,

The train station explosion hit at around 8:45am (0345 GMT) and was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the area’s main separatist groups.

The attack “was carried out on a Pakistani army unit at Quetta railway station… after completing a course at the Infantry School,” the BLA said in a statement.

The Associated Press of Pakistan, the official news agency, cited railway officials as saying the blast happened near the ticket booth when two trains were scheduled to depart.

Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, resource-rich Balochistan is home to separatist militants.