Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 22 : Amid the escalating row over the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 'terrorist' remark against PM Modi, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday sharply criticised the opposition party, stating that such "disgusting" language is a reflection of the core ideology of the Congress party and its leadership.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Goyal accused the Opposition of being driven by desperation, claiming they are focused on preserving family politics across the country, noting that the Congress chief "hasn't even apologised yet" for the statement made during the final leg of the Tamil Nadu election campaign.
"Such a disgusting remark can only be the thinking of the Congress party. This is the mindset of the Gandhi family and their allies. They can't digest the fact that the people of India have chosen Prime Minister Modi for the third time. Their thinking is that the Stalin family should remain in Tamil Nadu, the Gandhi family in the Centre, and Mamata Banerjee in Bengal wants her nephew to become the Chief Minister after her... Desperation was evident in Mallikarjun Kharge's words. This is highly condemnable. He hasn't even apologised yet," he said.
Directing his fire toward the broader INDIA bloc, Goyal questioned whether other alliance partners shared Kharge's controversial take. "Do his allies Uddhav Thackeray, Stalin, Vaiko all have the same thinking?... All of them have betrayed the people of the country," he said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday issued a stern 24-hour ultimatum to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, demanding an explanation for his controversial "terrorist" remark directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the high-decibel Tamil Nadu Assembly election campaign.
The move follows a high-level delegation of the BJP, including Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Kiren Rijiju, meeting with the full commission to demand "strictest action" for what they termed a gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The controversy erupted on the last day of Tamil Nadu election campaigning, when the Congress President criticised the AIADMK for supporting the BJP and labelled PM Modi a 'terrorist who does not believe in equality.'
When questioned on the choice of words, Kharge quickly defended himself, claiming that he meant to say that the PM was terrorising his political opponents.
"He (PM Modi) is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist...What I mean, I want to clarify, is that Modi always threatens. The institutions like ED, I-T and CBI are in his hands. He wants to take delimitation also into his hands," Kharge said.
Amid the heated debate, DMK MP Kanimozhi backed Kharge's remarks about misuse of central agencies."Yes, there are raids. They (BJP) use Income Tax, CBI, and ED against their opposition parties. This has been their style of functioning," the DMK MP said.
Congress leader KC Venugopal also came to Kharge's defence, accusing the BJP of amplifying the issue unnecessarily and attempting to divert attention from substantive concerns.
"They (BJP) will try to make a non-issue become an issue... Prime Minister Modi is trying to terrorise people by using the ED and the CBI. That's what Mallikarjun Kharge said. You also know all these camera tricks. They are using only that particular clip... And Kharge himself clarified that he does not call PM Modi a 'terrorist'... then why BJP targeting him? That's an unwanted thing," he said.
The timing of the controversy is critical, as Tamil Nadu is set to head to the polls on April 23
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