NEW DELHI: One chair was lying vacant in the front row when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was delivering the 77th Independence Day Speech. The chair had Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s name on it. The congress activists informed that Kharge is not well. However, he had sent a recorded message wishing the country on Independence Day. The message highlighted the role of past Prime Ministers and blamed the present government.

Kharge paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad, Sarojini Naidu and B R Ambedkar. He mentioned the contributions of former Prime Ministers of India like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. Kharge also mentioned the name of BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

‘All the Prime Ministers, including A B Vajpayee, thought about the country and took many steps for development. Democracy, constitution and self-governing institutions are facing serious threat. New tools are being used to stifle the voice of the opposition. Besides CBI, ED and Income Tax raids, the election commission is also being weakened.
Opposition MPs are gagged, suspended, mics are being muted and speeches expunged. Great leaders do not erase old history to create new history. They are trying to give new names to everything. Aren't they changing names to hide their failures,’ said Kharge.

Meantime, for the first time as Congress chief, Kharge hoisted the national flag at the Congress headquarters in Delhi. He broke the Congress tradition of not blaming or criticizing anyone on Independence Day and criticized the government in harsh language.