New Delhi: A day after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had to apologize over his “snake poison” remark against PM Modi, the Congress on Friday hit back demanding the PM and Karnataka CM Bommai should apologize over BJP leader B Patil Yatnal calling Sonia Gandhi “vish kanye” and “agent of China and Pakistan.” The back-to-back alleged insults and targeting of each other by the BJP and the Congress indicated that political decorum in poll-bound Karnataka was getting compromised.
According to AICC in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala, “instructed by the Prime Minister and supported by the Chief Minister, BJP leader and Modi Ji’s personal favourite Basangouda Patil Yatnal stooped to the lowest by calling UPA Chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as “Visha Kanye” and “Agent of China and Pakistan.”
“This is the worst kind of sacrilege and abuse being hurled upon Sonia Gandhi and Congress leadership at the instance of Prime Minister and Chief Minister Bommai. We demand that the PM and CM should tender an unconditional public apology to Sonia Gandhi as also to the Congress leadership. The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka and its leaders have lost their mental and political balance,” said Surjewala.
Also read: Karnataka polls: Kharge calls PM Modi 'poisonous snake', later clarifies; BJP reacts
The Congress attack came a day after the grand old party was on the backfoot over Kharge’s alleged remarks at the PM while addressing a rally. Later, as the BJP protested, Kharge realised his mistake and said if anyone had been hurt by his unintentional comments, he was sorry. Kharge had also said that he had not attacked PM Modi the person but his ideology.
In an attempt to turn the tables on the BJP, Surjewala further charged that “the BJP leadership and Prime Minister have made a profession of abusing the Nehru-Gandhi family as the PM himself had called Sonia Gandhi as “Congress Ki Vidhwa” and “Jersey Cow” in the past.”
“The filth and muck being hurled at Sonia Gandhi, who is the wife of a former Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) who was martyred for the country, reflects the absolutely debased and undignified character of the BJP and its leadership. The sad part is that all of this has the tacit approval of Prime Minister, Amit Shah, JP Nadda and Basavaraj Bommai,” said Surjewala.
“If Prime Minister has even an iota of decency or dignity, he should immediately expel Basangouda Patil Yatnal from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Otherwise, it will be proved that the debased, ugly and deranged remarks being made by Yatnal against Sonia Gandhi are at the instance of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister,” he said.
The Congress leader noted that “facing a complete rout in the May 10 assembly elections, the BJP leadership was frustrated to the core and was hurling filth and muck, which is the product of their ugly character and dirty mindset of denigrating and insulting the Congress leadership.” “They have lost all sense of propriety, political balance and even a remote iota of decency and decorum,” said Surjewala. The slanging match between the BJP and the Congress indicates that the poll pitch may become murkier as the polling day May 10 draws near.
