Gurmitkal (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi abuses the Gandhi family because he does not have any achievements to his credit.

Congress is leading in the two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, which has worried Modi, Kharge said during a public meeting in this town in Yadgir district.

Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Kalaburagi, which is going to polls on May seven.

Gurmitkal is part of this constituency.

"Everyone knows what was there before and after Modi's birth in this country but he still abuses Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lalbahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and me because he has nothing to his credit", he said.

"Modi says out of frustration that Congress is taking away everyone's property and distributing it among Muslims. This is neither written in the Constitution nor mentioned in our manifesto anywhere," the 81-year-old said.

He explained that Congress has only said that it will give to the poor whatever is due for them but "never spoke about Hindu-Muslim."

Kharge further said that his party had done it during former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi's tenure through land reforms, nationalisation of banks and Life Insurance Corporation. These were done for the poor, he added.

"Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi brought MNREGS (during UPA rule). Did Modi do anything like that?" he asked.

He told the crowd that Congress brought the Food Security Act giving 35 kg food grains every month to poor people.

However, Modi started giving five kg extra during COVID-19 pandemic and started boasting that he is giving to 80 crore people of this country, Kharge said.

"You (Modi) gave it because we brought the law, which no one can snatch. This is the work we had done."

"Modi says he is going to strengthen the country. Are we going to weaken it? It was we who broke Pakistan into two. What did you do?

"Modi talks so much. He says he has a 56-inch chest. What will we do with a 56-inch chest ? Tell us what you did for stomach? What are you giving us for meals?" he questioned.

"Today, price rise is an issue worrying poor people."

 

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New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".

In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."

"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."

"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.

The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.

According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.

The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.

New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.

Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.

The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.

In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".

"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.