Retorting sharply on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he accused the grand old party of spreading lies, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said Modi’s ideologues praise and worship Godse, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Igatpuri, Kharge said Modi accuses the Congress of lying, which has sacrificed for the independence of the country and led the country on the path of development.

He said PM Modi who used to talk about a Congress-free India, about crossing 400 marks in Lok Sabha elections, now even to stand his government he needed two legs – Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, and Bihar Chief Minister and J(D)U head Nitish Kumar.

“Hey… Modiji, your people praise and worship Godse, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi, and you say bad things about Congress?” Kharge said.

He accused BJP of recovering the money from the public it spent to form the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. “This government could not do anything for the poor for whom it had promised to work. All BJP leaders including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah lie. Therefore, the people of Maharashtra have decided that this time they will form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government here.”

On BJP’s accusition of the guarantees of the Congress government a lie, Kharge said his party is fulfilling its promises everywhere.

Underlining the numbers of promises made by PM Modi including black money, 15 lakh rupees in everyone’s account, 2 crore jobs every year and farmers’ double income, the Congress chief said nothing was done, which means all the promises of Modi were nothing but a lie.

Addressing a press conference in Pune, Kharge said: “What are they going to give to Pune, what will they give to the farmers of the state, the discussion should be on that. The discussion in the elections should be on work. But the BJP government has no focus on controlling inflation, providing employment and investment.”

Kharge alleged that the investment coming to Maharashtra is being shifted to other states, which is not right. “On this, I believe that the projects that should go to Maharashtra should be given here and the projects that are meant for Gujarat should go to them.”

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) today agreed to the demands of the protesting aspirants, announcing that it will conduct the PCS preliminary exam in a single day. This decision follows days after massive protests by the students in Prayagraj who demanded that the exams be held in one day and a single shift.

Notably, the PCS exam was to be held in two shifts on December 7 and 8. The Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) preliminary examination was to be held in three shifts on December 22 and 23 and has been postponed. Furthermore, a decision on fixing a fresh date for the RO-ARO exam will be taken once the UPPSC submits a report.

Ashok Kumar, UPPSC Commission Secretary made the announcement in front of the students in Prayagraj, who have been protesting against the exam schedule for the past four days. He said that multiple paper leak issues in competitive exams have come to light from different parts of the country in the last few months, in which some institutions were found to be involved. Therefore, to ensure the sanctity and transparency of competitive exams, the state government had planned to hold exams with over five lakh aspirants in multiple shifts, he continued.

The UPPSC Commission Secretary mentioned that as a part of this, the state exam body announced to PCS exam 2024, proposed to be held in December and ARO exam 2023, in multiple shifts. He added that the demand raised by some students over the past few days was taken into cognisance by the Chief Minister, who directed the commission to maintain dialogue with the students and take a decision. Ashok Kumar said that the commission will hold the exam in a single shift.

Earlier on November 5, the UPPSC announced that the RO-ARO and the PCS exams were in three and two shifts, respectively. The move to conduct the exams on separate dates drew widespread criticism, while the aspirants argued that it caused unnecessary confusion and hardship. Meanwhile, the Opposition also criticised the BJP over the UPPSC’s exam schedule.

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan’s bail in the Delhi Waqf matter has exposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government’s false case, said senior party leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday.

A Delhi court on Thursday ordered Khan’s release in a money-laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board while refusing to take cognisance of a charge sheet filed against him.

“Bail to Amanat. Once again, Modi’s false case has been exposed. Modi ji tried all his tricks but could not eliminate Arvind Kejriwal and AAP,” the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Singh said in Hindi on X.

Echoing his colleague, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Amanatullah Khan’s bail by a Delhi court made it clear that the BJP had sent him to jail in a false case, adding the BJP was misusing the ED.

Sisodia charged that the main objective of the saffron party is to put AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and his associates in jail in false CBI and ED cases so that they cannot contest the elections.

“We all are out of jail. The BJP will not win in the Delhi elections, Arvind Kejriwal will become the CM again,” said Sisodia. The Delhi Assembly election is due early next year.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said this was bound to happen. “All AAP leaders are out now. The truth cannot be defeated and we are going to contest the Delhi elections with full strength,” he said.

On September 2, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Khan as part of a money-laundering investigation against him and some others linked to him.

The 50-year-old legislator was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after a central agency conducted a search of his residence in the Okhla area of Delhi.

The money laundering case against him arises from two First Information Reports (FIRs): one filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding “irregularities” in the Waqf Board, and another concerning disproportionate assets registered by the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch.

On October 29, the ED filed a 110-page supplementary prosecution complaint, which is similar to a charge sheet, alleging that Khan laundered money generated through corruption within the Delhi Waqf Board.