Not Mallikarjun Kharge, but Rahul Gandhi as INDI's PM face? Siddaramaiah's BIG remark

Bengaluru: After Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's name was floated as INDI alliance's PM candidate, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday created huge controversy by suggesting Rahul Gandhi's name instead.

“Everybody hasn’t received justice in India. Everybody should get justice. Dalits, backward castes, minorities and women. Everyone should get it. To get justice in this country, there was a padayatra. That’s why he should get the power. Else Modi will get the power. Should the power and authority go to Rahul Gandhi or Modi?” 

Soon after the crowd erupts in unison calling out Rahul Gandhi's name.

Addressing Congress' 139th foundation day event here, he said, "Nobody in the country had done something like the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Now, he (Rahul Gandhi) is taking up a Bharat Jodo Yatra's second version - the Nyay Yatra. That's because not everyone has got justice in the country." "Everyone in the country -- backward classes, Dalits, minorities and women -- should get justice, hence this Yatra is being undertaken by Rahul Gandhi," he added.

Asking the Congress workers whether someone like Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi come to power, Siddaramaiah said, "forgetting all our differences, for the sake of the country, to protect the Constitution, to save the country's multiculturalism and sovereignty, and to provide justice to everyone, we must fight together and bring Congress back to power." Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, Siddaramaiah had pitched for Rahul Gandhi as PM.

Noting that some people talk of soft Hindutva, the CM said, "Hindutva is Hindutva. I'm an Hindu. Hindu and Hindutva are different...... Haven't we built Ram temples in our villages? Don't we worship Rama and do bhajans? I too used to go for bhajans in our village....Aren't we Hindus? We are also Hindus." 

(With inputs from PTI)