Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the INDIA alliance represented and symbolised India’s spirit of “unity in diversity” and alleged that the BJP and the RSS were like poison and they cannot even be tasted for a test, as that can prove fatal.

Addressing the ‘Save Democracy’ mega rally organized by the ‘INDIA’ bloc at the Ramlila Maidan here, Kharge exhorted for unity and called upon the alliance partners to fight together in the national interest.

He said, "The alliance partners may have certain differences at the local and state levels, but they are together when it comes to defending and safeguarding the national interest."

The Congress president maintained that the 2024 General Elections were being held to decide the future of the country and whether democracy will survive or dictatorship would thrive under Modi. “Modi believes in dictatorship and not in democracy”, he added.

Accusing the BJP government of denying the level playing field to the opposition parties, he pointed out how all the bank accounts of the Congress party had been frozen just at the time of elections and how the opposition leaders were being intimidated and two Chief Ministers had been arrested.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that Modi was trying to fix these elections like the 'match fixing' in cricket, Kharge said, he (Modi) was also queering the pitch for his political opponents.

Pointing out how the investigating agencies were being misused against the opposition parties, he disclosed that the Congress party has recently been served with notices by the Income Tax demanding a penalty of Rs 3567 crores for a mere violation of Rs 14 lakhs.

He alleged that these were Modi’s ways of intimidating the opposition parties and even forcing some parties for alliance with his party. He disclosed that when the Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren refused to join the NDA, he was put behind the bars.

(With UNI inputs)