The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for allegedly making derogatory comments against the party and its ideological wellspring, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), at an election rally in Assam, and lodged complaints with the state police and Election Commission (EC) against the senior leader.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP leader and legislator Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned Karji’s alleged statements comparing the BJP and RSS to “venomous snakes”, terming them “strongly objectionable” and beyond the bounds of acceptable political discourse. Karji also demanded an apology for his alleged remarks about the people of Gujarat and some other states, saying the comment was “rude, insulting and absolutely vile”.
“Do they agree with this statement? If Rahul Gandhi has any meaning, he should distance himself from this statement, condemn it and demand an apology,” Prasad said, adding that Karg “does not deserve to remain Congress president” for making such comments, and questioned whether he had “abandoned every sense of dignity” associated with the office.
“The position he holds was previously held by leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Sonia Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and even Rahul Gandhi. What kind of language does a person holding such a position use? Kharge’s comment is not only insulting, but completely rude and contemptible,” he added.
Read also: “He escaped,” says Sarma as Assam Police arrive at Pawan Khera’s residence in Delhi
At an election rally in Kerala’s Idukki on Sunday, Karji said the people of the state are “educated and intelligent” and cannot be misled, unlike those who are “illiterate” in Gujarat and some other places.
Prasad demanded that the Congress president apologize to the people of Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “Karg, you owe the country an apology. On behalf of the BJP, we demand that you apologize for calling the people of Gujarat illiterate.”
Regarding Karg’s comment against the BJP and RSS, Prasad said his comments are an attempt to defame “national organisations”. “He made very offensive remarks,” the former Union minister said.
During an election rally in Assam’s Sribhumi district on Monday, Kharge, citing the Quran, said if a poisonous snake passes in front of a person, even if he is praying, he should stop praying and kill that poisonous snake.
“I would say that breaking the prayer does not matter. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP are that poisonous snake,” Karji said.
Meanwhile, BJP’s social media handler Ranjeeb Kumar Sarmah filed a police complaint against Karji, alleging that the Congress president made “derogatory remarks”. An FIR was registered at Basistha police station in Guwahati. The official spokesman said that another complaint had been submitted to the European Commission.
Searches at Pawan Khera’s house in Delhi
Meanwhile, an Assam Police team on Tuesday conducted a search at Congress leader Pawan Khera’s residence in Delhi, two days after allegations of undeclared assets abroad and possession of multiple passports were made against Prime Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife.
Read also: Kataka Minister Priyank Karg accuses RSS of indulging in money laundering
The action came a day after a complaint was filed by Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, in Guwahati, demanding action against Khaira and others.
“A case has been registered at the Guwahati Crime Branch police station and we have come to search for Pawan Khera in this regard. He was not present at his residence,” a senior Assam Police officer told reporters in Delhi. “We conducted a search at his residence and found some incriminating things that we cannot disclose at the moment. We have no idea where Khaira is, but he will be traced soon.”
On Sunday, Khaira claimed that the Prime Minister’s wife has passports to four countries – the UAE, Antigua and Barbuda and Egypt – has properties in Dubai and registered a company in Wyoming (US). Sarma and his wife described these accusations as baseless, as Sarma claimed that the documents that Khaira showed were modified using artificial intelligence, taken from a Facebook page linked to Pakistan.
On Monday, the Congress submitted a petition to the EC seeking the Prime Minister’s disqualification from the Assembly elections for not disclosing assets held by his family abroad. Another complaint filed by the ED sought PMLA action.
Sarma on Tuesday claimed that Khaira had “escaped” to Hyderabad. “Assam Police will arrest him from Patal, if necessary. He will have to reveal where he got these fake documents. I doubt he got them from Rahul Gandhi. If so, we will take action against him as well.”
Reacting to the developments, Karg told reporters: “We have made some serious allegations (against Sarma and his wife), and they have a double-engine government and they should check them. But instead of doing that if they file FIRs, let them do it. We will face it no matter what.”
Regarding Kharge’s statements, Sarma sparked controversy by saying: “Kharge is getting old and talking like a mad man.”
The Congress slammed the Assam Chief Minister’s remarks, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the use of “derogatory language” against Karg by Sarma was an insult to the entire SC/ST community, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue “not his inability, but his acquiescence”. “If the Prime Minister sees an attack on the dignity of millions of Dalits in the country and does not speak out, then he is not only abdicating his responsibility, but he is also a party to that insult,” Gandhi said in a Hindi post on X.
Gandhi said Sarma’s use of “vulgar and insulting language” against the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha came out as “reprehensible, shameful and totally unacceptable”. “Kareji ji is a senior and popular Dalit leader in the country – his experience, stature and prestige are unparalleled. His insult is not just an insult to one individual, but also to tens of millions of people from the SC-ST community in this country.”
