‘Don't Be Intimidated’: Mallikarjun Kharge Writes Open Letter To Bureaucrats - Full Text

Mallikarjun Kharge, President of the Indian National Congress, has written an open letter to civil servants and government officers, urging them to adhere to the Constitution and discharge their duties without fear or favour.

The letter, posted on social media, comes ahead of the counting of votes in the Lok Sabha election and amid the allegation by party's senior leader Jairam Ramesh, that Union Home minister Amit Shah had called up 150 district officers ahead of tomorrow's counting of votes and attempted to intimidate them.

"Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any Unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day," Kharge wrote in the open letter he posted on X.

Mallikarjun Kharge's Open Letter To Civil Servants

An Appeal to all the Civil Servants and Officers

My dear esteemed members of bureaucracy, our civil servants & officers,

I am writing you in the capacity of the Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) and as President of the Indian National Congress. The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha have concluded and the counting of votes shall take place tomorrow, on June 4th, 2024.

I must congratulate the Election Commission of India, the Central Armed Forces, Police in various states, Civil Servants, District Collectors, Volunteers and each one of you who were involved in conducting this mammoth and historic task.

Our inspiration and India’s First Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel famously called the civil servants as the “Steel frame of India.” The people of India are well aware that it is the Indian National Congress which established numerous institutions, laid their solid foundation, and devised mechanisms for their independence, on the basis of the Constitution of India.

Independence of the institutions is paramount, for every civil servant takes oath of the Constitution that they “will faithfully and conscientiously discharge their duties and will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”. In this spirit we expect every bureaucrat and officer – from top to bottom of the hierarchy, to discharge their duties in the spirit of the Constitution, without any coercion, threat, pressure or intimidation either from the ruling party/coalition or from the opposition party/coalition.

It is important to underline the fact that the Congress party, through the Constitution prepared by our inspirational founding members such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr B R Ambedkar, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Sarojini Naidu and countless others, not only created a framework of strong governance, but also ensured affirmative action through representation of the marginalised in the bureaucracy and the civil society, in our autonomous institutions.

The last decade has witnessed a systemic pattern to assault, undermine and suppress our autonomous institutions by the ruling party. India’s Democratic ethos are being consequently damaged. There is a widespread tendency to turn India into a regimental dictatorship. We are increasingly seeing some institutions shedding their independence and brazenly following the diktats of the ruling party. Some have completely adopted their style of communication, their way of functioning, and in some cases even their political rhetoric. It is not their fault. With brute power, threat, coercive mechanisms and misuse of agencies, this tendency to bow to the powers that have become a way for their short-term survival. Even though, in this denigration, India’s Constitution and Democracy have become a casualty.

The ‘Will of the People’ is supreme, and people want Indian bureaucracy, to return back to the same ‘Steel frame of India’ envisaged by Sardar Patel – which has been Teflon-coated by our strong Constitutional principles, that have stood the test of the time.

Indian National Congress now urges the entire bureaucracy, to adhere to the Constitution, enact their duties, and serve the nation, without fear, favour and ill-will against anybody. Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any Unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day. We owe it to future generations, a vibrant Democracy and a long-lasting Constitution, as penned by the makers of modern India.

In this hope that India remains truly Democratic in nature, I extend good wishes to each one of you, and expect that our eternal ideals of the Constitution remain untarnished.

(Mallikarjun Kharge)