Indians fervently seeking change: Kharge on LS poll

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: Asserting that the country is seeking a change, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the 'guarantees' touted by the present government would meet the same fate as the 'India Shining' slogan of 2004.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party leaders K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh said the CWC has authorised Kharge to give final approval to the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls and decide a date for its release.

The CWC has prepared a roadmap for taking the party's guarantees to grassroots, Venugopal. said after the over threehour long meeting.

Earlier addressing the meeting of the CWC, the party's top decision-making body, Kharge urged all party leaders and workers to take every issue raised in the party manifesto to every village and town and to every household across the country.

"The country is fervently demanding a change. The guarantees currently being touted by the present government would have the same fate as that of the 'India Shining' slogan of 2004," he said in his address at the CWC meet.

"All of us have a responsibility to ensure that our manifesto gets the widest publicity in different states and our commitments are taken to every household across the country and people at large," he added.

The BJP government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given the 'India Shining' slogan during the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The party had lost the poll.

Siddu his back, brands Modi ‘weak PM’

The war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continued on Tuesday with the latter branding the former “a weak PM”.

Siddaramaiah was responding to Modi referring to him as 'super CM' and 'shadow CM' in his speech in Shivamogga.

“Respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Shivamogga you joked that there were ‘super CMs’ and ‘shadow CMs’. There is no super and shadow figure among us. There is only one CM who is a strong CM, not a weak PM like you,” Siddaramaiah said.