Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 27 : Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday slammed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for his "poisonous snake" remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that Kharge used the words to "appease his political masters".
While talking to the media in Bengaluru, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Kharge ji used such words to appease his political masters. He must have been under some compulsion."
After calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "poisonous snake" during his election rally in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge clarified his statement saying that it wasn't meant for PM Modi but directed at BJP's ideology.
While addressing the election campaign, Kharge said, "PM Modi is like a 'poisonous snake', you might think it's poison or not. If you lick it, you're dead."
However, Kharge later clarified that what he wanted to say is BJP's ideology is as dangerous as a snake and didn't mean to make a personal attack against PM Modi.
Later, while talking to the media, Kharge clarified his earlier comment and said, "No no, I didn't mean it to Modi, what I meant was BJP ideology is like a snake. I never said personally to Modi, what I said was their ideology is like a snake and if you try to touch it, your death will certain."
Meanwhile, Union Minister for State Home Affairs Nityanand Rai hit out at Kharge for his remarks and said that the Congress party is a habitual offender to defame the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the PM.
Speaking to , Nityanand Rai said, "First, Rahul Gandhi spoke derogatory words for the backward society. Now Mallikarjun Kharge has used objectionable and indecent language like 'poisonous snake' for the Honorable Prime Minister."
"Kharge ji, Congress party have sown poison. The poison of division in the society, the poison of partition of the country, the poison of corruption in governance, the poison of dynasty in politics - all these are the poisons sown by the Congress," Rai alleged.
Launching a scathing attack on Congress, Rai said, "Now the public has rejected the poisonous politics of the Congress, so the Congress leaders have lost their temper and I want to say that the people of the country and particularly the people of Karnataka will never accept your language and show you the door in the state assembly election."
This is not the first time that the Congress president took a jibe at PM Modi during an election rally.
During the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2022, Kharge compared PM Modi to the demon king Raavan.
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