New Delhi [India], April 7 : BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday lambasted Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over his "you can fool people who are illiterate in Gujarat" remark, saying he does not deserve to be the chief of a national party.
Addressing a press conference in the BJP Headquarters in the national capital, Ravi Shankar Prasad called Kharge's remarks a "height of shamelessness," and sought a public apology.
He also advised Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to separate himself from Kharge's statement.
Prasad said, "Elections come and go, but has Congress President completely abandoned all decorum? I cannot even repeat his words. This is the height of shamelessness and depravity. His utterances are not only demeaning but shameless. What is fitting for a president of a national party to call the people of a state illiterate? Mr Kharge, were Gandhi ji, Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai and Vikram Sarabhai illiterate?"
"Gujarat's literacy rate is 82 per cent, which improved under PM Modi. Will you say anything just because you hate PM Modi? You owe an apology to the country. BJP demands an apology. Do Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi agree with the party president's statement? If Rahul Gandhi demonstrates good judgment, he should separate himself from the remark and ask the party chief to apologise. He even called Bihar and UP illiterate. Do you want to divide the nation? He does not deserve to be the President of Congress," he added.
Further, slamming the Congress president's "venomous snake" remark against the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he accused Kharge of creating communal tensions.
He said, "Are you creating communal tensions? You have blatantly and unabashedly stoked communal fire by pandering to the religious sentiments of the Muslim community. Rahul Gandhi's ancestors kept criticising the Sangh. However, Sangh reached new heights, and several of its members are MPs now. See where you are now? You should understand that the public does not like such statements."
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sought to make a comparison between people in Keralam and Gujarat as he attacked Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He said that the two leaders "can fool people who are illiterate in Gujarat or in other places" but not in the poll-bound Keralam.
This sparked a political row with several BJP leaders hitting out at Kharge and Congress.
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