On Tuesday (15 August) India is celebrating its 77th Independence Day. As per the traditional ceremony, PM Modi unfurled the Indian flag from the ramparts of Red Fort. Several dignitaries graced the event, including Union Ministers and Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. However, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s absence at the Red Fort event triggered a fresh controversy, particularly after several party leaders admitted that it was a conscious choice to ‘prioritise’ the party event over the renowned gracious National ceremony.
Initially, there were reports that the veteran Congress leader had to skip the Red Fort event as he was unwell. However, Kharge went ahead to attend a party event at the Congress headquarters where he also delivered a speech to party workers.
Following this development and taking a cue from the initial reports, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a dig at Congress leaders for prioritising party event over the apolitical national ceremony. Taking to X, Poonawalla said that he is glad at the speedy recovery of the Congress President.
Sources were saying Kharge ji was unwell hence couldn’t come for #IndependenceDay program but I’m glad he recovered immediately and started giving speech at AICC HQ where he was able to do flag hoisting 🙏 pic.twitter.com/1kEP5LmJmo
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) August 15, 2023
Seeing the controversy brewing, Congress President Kharge tried to explain the rationale behind skipping the nationally important apolitical event. Stamping his authority on the initial reports, he admitted that he had some eye-related problems and was short on time. He claimed that his valuable time would have been lost if he had gone to attend the ceremony and he would not have been able to participate in the functions at the party headquarter.
Asserting that it was a conscious choice to skip the Red Fort event, Kharge said, “Considering the lack of adequate time, I made the decision not to attend the event at the Red Fort. It was a choice made considering both security concerns and the constraints of time.”
#WATCH | Congress president and LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge gives details on why he did not attend the #IndependenceDay celebration at the Red Fort today.
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2023
He says, "Firstly, I have some eye-related problems. Secondly, I had to hoist the Tricolour at my residence at 9.20… pic.twitter.com/4KqdpMRVdK
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla reiterated that the party President skipped the Red Fort event as he was busy and had to attend events at the Congress Headquarters.
#WATCH | Mallikarjun Kharge ji is already busy in Independence day programs. Many people including ministers are not able to reach Red Fort. He will be coming here ( AICC HQ) to hoist the flag: Congress leader Rajiv Shukla on Congress president's absence from I-Day celebrations… pic.twitter.com/eQRDoCcTkJ
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2023
Congress party’s Chairman of the Media and Publicity Department, Pawan Khera argued that can’t a political leader prioritise a party event over the national ceremony?
Apparently the BJP is upset that @kharge ji was not present at the PM’s Red Fort speech.
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) August 15, 2023
▪️Does the PM realise that his route arrangements would have made it impossible for Kharge Sahib to reach the Party HQ for the Flag hoisting function in time?
▪️Do we not have the…
#WATCH | On Congress president-LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge not attending the #IndependenceDay event at Red Fort, Union Minister Anurag Thakur says, "…If the leader of the main Opposition party and LoP Rajya Sabha doesn't come, you can imagine the Congress mindset…Today… pic.twitter.com/Fqq7Ki3Nxb
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2023
Union Minister Anurag Thakur lambasted the Congress party-led opposition alliance. He argued that skipping the gracious event highlighted the mindset of the Congress party and asserted that opposition is like a fish without water.
