New Delhi: Amid the intense campaigning for Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘poisonous snake’, a remark that draws fresh concerns over falling political discourse in the country.
Addressing an election rally in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi, Kharge made highly objectionable & derogatory comments against the Prime Minister.
“PM Modi is like a poisonous snake. You may not know but the moment you touch it, you are dead”, the Congress chief said.
#KarnatakaAssemblyElections2023 | PM Modi is like a ‘poisonous snake’, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead…: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Kalaburagi pic.twitter.com/Bqi7zVFnO9
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2023
BJP fires back at Kharge
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took strong objections to despicable comments by the Congress president and demanded the party chief apologises to the nation for using such filthy language for Prime Minister.
Union minister Shobha Karandlaje asked to what level Congress will stoop in order to target the Prime Minister while I&B minister Anurag Thakur said that the Gandhi loyalist was going a step ahead to prove allegiance to his political masters.
#WATCH | Mallikarjun Kharge is a senior leader and president of Congress. What does he want to tell the world? PM Narendra Modi is the PM of our country and the whole world respects him and using such language for PM shows the level to which Congress has stooped. We want him… https://t.co/qBO2S0TSz5 pic.twitter.com/rgW59MPJcr
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2023
#WATCH | “Congress made Mallikarjun Kharge the party president but nobody considers him that, so he thought of giving a statement which is worse than that given by Sonia Gandhi…”: Union minister Anurag Thakur slams Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over his remark on PM Modi pic.twitter.com/UlNwtOpSdW
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2023
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya attacked Kharge over latter’s venomous remarks and said that this showed Congress desperation.
“Congress is losing ground in Karnataka & that is apparent on its leaders’ faces,” he said.
Now Congress Presidnet Kharge calls Prime Minister Modi ‘poisonous snake’…
What started with Sonia Gandhi’s ‘maut ka saudagar’, and we know how it ended, the Congress continues to plummet to new depths.
The desperation shows Congress is losing ground in Karnataka and knows it. pic.twitter.com/75FECizSOW
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 27, 2023
Kharge retracts remarks
As Kharge’s remarks triggered major political storm, the former issued a clarification and said that he was not specifically talking about any individual.
He said that by quoting poisonous, he meant BJP.
Kharge clarified that he was saying, “Their ideology is like a snake and if you try to touch it, your death is certain,”
It wasn’t meant for PM Modi, what I meant was BJP’s ideology is ‘like a snake’. I never said this personally for PM Modi, what I said was their ideology is like a snake and if you try to touch it, your death is certain: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge clarifies over his earlier… https://t.co/qBO2S0TSz5 pic.twitter.com/d32oN97zCe
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2023
This is not the first time that Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge have made disparaging remarks against PM Modi. In one of the instances last year, Kharge had compared the Prime Minister to a 100-headed Ravan, claiming that he was omnipresent during elections. Kharge’s objectionable dig at PM Modi during Gujarat elections 2022, had created wide uproar & drew sharp reactions from the ruling party.
