Empty chair at Red Fort speaks volumes as PM Modi addresses the nation

Digital Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on its 77th anniversary of India's independence, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chose to abstain and instead sent out a recorded message in which he emphasized the importance of previous Prime Ministers and accused the current government of harassing the opposition.

At part of the famous Red Fort where PM Modi addressed his speech, one of the vacant seats showed Mallikarjun Kharge's name. He was "under the weather, not feeling well", said the Congress on his absence.

However, Kharge hoisted the flag for the first time as party leader at the Congress office in Delhi. "Another first for any Congress president in many decades" he also attacked the government in his speech. The party said that the Congress has historically shied away from criticism and attacks on Independence Day.

Kharge honoured freedom fighters like Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad, Sarojini Naidu, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and BR Ambedkar in his video message.

Also Read :  "See you next year...": PM Modi confident of victory in 2024 LS election

The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as later Prime Ministers of the Congress Party, including Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh, were also praised for their nation-building efforts. He even mentioned BJP icon, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Every Prime Minister has contributed to the progress of the nation. Today some people try to say that India has seen development only in the past few years," the Congress president said, in an apparent swipe at PM Modi.

"Along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, every PM thought about the nation and took many steps for development. It is with pain that I say that today democracy, Constitution and autonomous bodies are under serious threat. New tools are being used to stifle the voice of the opposition. Not only are there CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax raids but the Election Commission is also being weakened. Opposition MPs are being muzzled, suspended, mics are being muted, speeches are being expunged..."

The creation of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), AIIMS, and atomic and space research, according to Kharge, are examples of progress that the current government is undermining. He claimed that Nehru promoted literature, culture, and the arts in the newly independent India.

Using one of PM Modi's slogans, he said that Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi's policies helped lead to India becoming atma nirbhar (self-sufficient).

"Great leaders don't change the past in order to make new history. They want to rename everything; they have done this with previous plans and infrastructure projects. Their totalitarian methods are destroying democracy. Old regulations that helped bring about peace in the nation are now being given new names. First, they said 'ache din', then new India, now Amrut Kaal - are they not changing names to hide their failures?" Mr Kharge stated.

Prime Minister Modi criticized the Congress and other opposition parties in his 10th Independence Day speech, citing "corruption, nepotism, and appeasement" as the three evils that the nation must be freed from.

“Some problems became a part of our system in the last 75 years. Some parties follow dynastic politics and the party is of the family, by the family, and for the family," PM Modi stated, not naming the Congress.