New Delhi, April 7 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched an attack on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over his ‘demeaning’ remarks about North Indians and Gujaratis, along with his 'venomous' criticism of both the party and the RSS.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a tirade at the Congress president over brazen attempts to malign Gujarati heroes and also cast aspersions on patriotic outfits like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“You don’t deserve to be the president of a national party and must step down from the position on moral and ethical grounds,” said the BJP veteran, in scathing criticism.
Kharge’s twin remarks targeting the BJP, in the run-up to Assembly polls, snowballed into a major political storm as the Congress president first dubbed Gujaratis as “illiterates” and then described the BJP and RSS as “poisonous snakes” which must be crushed.
Taking strong exception to Kharge’s remarks, Ravi Shankar Prasad asked, “Was Gandhi ji illiterate? Was Sardar Patel illiterate? Was Moraraji Desai, was Vikram Sarabhai illiterate?”
He stated that Gujarat, the land of heroes, which gave birth to many saints and patriots, was being dubbed as illiterate by Congress top leaders.
“Mr Kharge, you owe an apology to the nation. We demand that the Congress national president apologise to the nation for terming Gujaratis illiterate,” he remarked.
He said that Gujarat’s literacy rate stands at 82 per cent, among the highest in the country and has only grown in the past decades. He also demanded that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi come forward to clarify whether they stand with the party president or differ from him, and they should press him to apologise for such objectionable statements.
He said that the Congress president was insulting the residents of Gujarat and other North-Indian states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and asked, “What has happened to the Congress, do you want to divide the nation?”
Doubling down his attack over Kharge’s likening of the BJP and RSS to “poisonous snakes”, he accused the Congress leader of stoking communal fire by instigating the minorities.
“Are you trying to incite the minority community against the BJP and RSS? Are you trying to inflame communal sentiments to stir communal tension?” Prasad questioned.
Kharge, addressing a poll rally in Assam, attended by a sizeable number of the Muslim community, reportedly said that even if you are offering namaz, you should kill the poisonous snakes if spotted nearby and then went on to label BJP and RSS as the “serpents” which must be crushed.
Ravi Shankar Prasad said that such brazen statements are not even made by the Maoists, and added that such shameful and unfortunate attempts to slander a patriotic organisation like RSS are condemnable and abominable.
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