All India Congress Committee President and Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) Mallikarjun Kharge, addressing the press conference along with K.C. Venugopal, MP and General Secretary (Organisation), Girish Chodankar, Incharge Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and TNCC President K. Selvaperunthagai in Chennai on April 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
B. Jothi Ramalingam
Clarifying his earlier remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday (April 21, 2026) said that he did not call the Prime Minister “a terrorist” but spoke about the victimisation of political opponents by the Modi Government. Mr. Kharge alleged that the Prime Minister “is terrorising politicians” and “tax terrorism is happening”.
“I did not speak against the PM. The Prime Minister is terrorising politicians and candidates, and regarding this, I said that tax terrorism is happening, ED, the Income Tax department, and the CBI are conducting raids, this terrorism is being facilitated by the PM. I did not call him a terrorist he is scaring people. He is trying to silence people through raids and attempting to defeat them in elections. This is what I said in Chennai,” he told ANI.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the commission denied her permission for a public meeting in the Collin Lane area, while prioritising the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi within six hours. While addressing a public meeting in Jorasanko Assembly Constituency, Ms. Banerjee said, “I had a meeting scheduled in the Collin Lane area. If a political party had been holding a meeting there, and I hadn’t been granted permission. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. But, I was explicitly told (by the Election Commission), ‘We will not grant you permission.’ You denied permission for my meeting, yet you prioritise the Prime Minister’s meeting within six hours.”
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Campaigning ended for the first phase of the assembly election in West Bengal on Tuesday (April 22, 2026) with political parties giving a strong push to their campaign on 152 seats where voters will exercise their franchise on April 23. The polling will decide the electoral fate of 1, 478 candidates. The poll battle saw sharp exchanges between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Congress and CPI-M, who had allied in the last assembly polls, are fighting separately.
