Mallikarjun Kharge (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday likened US President Donald Trump to dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini over the United States’ actions in Venezuela. He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly yielding to Trump’s demand to cut India’s purchase of oil from Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine since February 2022. “What is happening in Venezuela today is not good for the world. Trump is trying to frighten people across the globe,” Kharge told reporters in Delhi, referring to the US military action in Venezuela that led to the ouster of Maduro. The Venezuelan leader and his wife were then takento New York to face multiple charges, primarily related to narco-terrorism.
Alleging that the US president was indulging in “expansionism,” the Congress chief said that leaders who attempt to expand their territories, like Hitler and Mussolini, “do not remain in power for long.”Kharge further referred to Trump’s repeated claim about ending the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, saying that he has repeated his claim around 70 times. “What does it mean? That he (Trump) is a tall personality and he can make the world bow to him. But the world won’t bow before him. We live in a democracy, only through a democratic method we have to go ahead…Nehru ji‘s policy was ‘live and let live’. That is our policy,” he added.Reacting to Trump’s recent statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows he (Trump) is unhappy with India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, Kharge invoked a dialogue from the 1989 Hindi film “Mr. India.”“It shows that PM Modi is under Trump’s control. I am reminded of a dialogue from Mr. India — ‘Mogambo khush hua’ (Mogambo is happy). If people with such a mindset try to scare the world, India is not going to cower. But I do not understand why Modi ji is bending before him. This is harmful for the nation. Stand for the country. You nod to whatever he says. The country did not elect you just to nod,” the veteran politician remarked.The US has imposed 50% tariffs on India, with the second 25% tranche linked to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. Washington has accused India of “funding Putin’s war machine” in Ukraine.The Republican leader has also repeatedly claimed that he used trade leverage to push India and Pakistan into a ceasefire agreement. However, New Delhi has consistently maintained that the ceasefire talks were a bilateral matter and were held following a request from Islamabad.