BJP sees us as enemy, Gandhi family will not bow down, says Kharge in Bihar rally; also attacks Nitish Kumar

Addressing the 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan' rally here, Kharge also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the promise to provide a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package to Bihar had not been fulfilled.

While accusing BJP of misusing Enforcement Directorate against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, Kharge also mentioned Robert Vadra and said it was all being done to "finish Congress".

Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had been questioned by ED earlier this week in the Gurugram land case.

The Congress president said he had spoken of "eleven lies" by PM Modi and the "twelfth" is about the package announced for Bihar.

He alleged there is a "BJP-RSS conspiracy" to implicate Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi so that Congress members may get scared.

He said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi belong to a family which has a great and glorious record of sacrifices for the unity and integrity of the country.

He pointed out that former Prime MInister Indira Gandhi took bullets on her chest for preserving the unity and integrity of the country.

Alleging that the National Herald case was a conspiracy, Kharge said "lies" were being spread about the case.

He said India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had donated his ancestral house and other ancestral properties to the Congress party.

Kharge accused the BJP and PM Modi of treating the Congress leaders "like their enemies" and said "that is why they were slapping false cases on the Gandhi family".

He said the Gandhis or Congress "will not be scared" of "intimidation and arm twisting".

"PM Modi and BJP treat us as enemies. The way they have filed a chargesheet against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and started an investigation against Robert Vadra, this is just to harass the Congress party and finish us...The Gandhi family is not going to bow down in front of anyone. They will keep fighting for the country," he said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 15 filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case. The chargesheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others, including several firms.

Referring to the Waqf Amendment Act, the Congress president said that the BJP wanted to polarise people and create a division between Hindus and Muslims.

He suggested that the alliance between the BJP and Nitish Kumar was "just a marriage of convenience." He said the JD-U leader had returned to the BJP to "protect his own chair and not for protecting and safeguarding the interests of Bihar".

Lauding the people of Bihar, he said that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the state and spread the message of peace across the world. He said, the world has now realised that it is "Buddh over Yudh" (peace over conflict).

Kharge also stated that the Tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was born in Patna and spread the message of peace and sacrifice worldwide.

He appealed to people to throw out the Nitish-BJP government and bring in the 'mahagathbandhan' (alliance) government for "peace and progress of Bihar" and for the bright future of children of the state.

A high-stakes contest is expected in Bihar between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and opposition Mahagathbandhan.

The Bihar Assembly elections are expected to be held later this year.