‘Lord Ram should open his eyes and punish the looters’: Kharge attacks BJP over Ayodhya funds row

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday over the Ayodhya temple fund controversy, invoking Lord Ram to say the deity should open his eyes and punish those who allegedly looted wealth in his name.

Addressing a gathering in Patna, Kharge also took aim at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), stating that lasting peace would elude the country as long as its ideology continues to hold sway. “I am pained that socialist leaders like Nitish Kumar joined hands with people who believe in RSS ideology,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.

Turning to the controversy over an alleged ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) ritual conducted after his rally at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani on 8 August, Kharge demanded accountability. He said BJP national president JP Nadda had assured an inquiry into the episode, yet an FIR was registered against Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s visit to the Uttarakhand town instead. Calling for those behind the ritual to be tracked down, Kharge insisted that the perpetrators must be identified and brought to book. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue, playing a clip purportedly showing the Uttarakhand BJP chief backing the ritual and asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an FIR.

Allegations of electoral malpractice and ballot demand

Kharge also mounted a fierce offensive against the ruling dispensation on the electoral front, accusing the government of coming to power through vote chori in states such as Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, and West Bengal. He warned that those responsible would eventually land behind bars.

To ensure electoral integrity, the Congress chief demanded an immediate return to paper ballots for all future elections. He also called for the immediate halting of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alongside the annulment of assembly polls conducted across the country over the past two years. Terming the battle against SIR a second war of independence, Kharge urged the people of Bihar to back a nationwide push against the exercise.

Rising prices under fire

Shifting focus to bread-and-butter issues, Kharge rounded on the Centre over unchecked inflation and soaring household costs. Questioning the ruling party’s flagship development slogans, he asked how a dispensation that fails to keep daily kitchen staples within reach could promise grand economic transformations.

“This government, which cannot make onions and bread affordable, how will it usher in ‘Amrit Kaal’,” Kharge said, wrapping up his critique of the Centre’s economic track record.