Countdown began for this 'autocratic government', says Kharge at INDIA bloc meet in Mumbai

Congress national president Mallikharjun Kharge, who addressed INDIA bloc meeting here on Friday, said that the strength of the Opposition alliance was making the BJP government at the Centre 'nervous'. "140 Cr Indians have decided to usher change. The countdown of this autocratic government's exit has begun," Kharge said.

Mumbai (Maharashtra) : In the backdrop of the government forming a panel to explore the possibility of "one nation, one election", Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said no matter how many diversions and distractions the ruling regime throws at the people, they shall not be betrayed anymore.

He asserted that the countdown of this "autocratic government's exit has begun". The government has constituted a committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of "one nation, one election", opening the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of state assembly contests.

Tagging a group photograph of the INDIA alliance leaders meeting here to finalise a roadmap for taking on the NDA in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Kharge, in a post on X, said, "Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA. We are united for a progressive, welfare-oriented, inclusive India." "No matter how many diversions and distractions, the ruling regime throws at the people, the citizens of India shall not be betrayed anymore," he said without referring to the formation of the committee.

"140 Cr Indians have decided to usher change. The countdown of this autocratic government's exit has begun," Kharge said. Sources said on Friday that Kovind will explore the feasibility of the exercise and the mechanism to see as to how the country can go back to having simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, as was the case till 1967.

He is expected to speak to experts and may also consult leaders of different political parties, they said. The government's decision comes a day after it called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps. Since coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a strong votary for the idea of simultaneous polls, which include those at local bodies, citing financial burden caused by almost continuous election cycle and jolt to development work during the polling period, according to a PTI report.

In his address to INDIA bloc meeting, Kharge said that the strength of the Opposition alliance was making the BJP government at the Centre 'nervous'. Our strength makes govt 'nervous', which is why it further bulldozed key bills in Parliament, suspended our MPs, Kharge said.