Congress chief Kharge launches personal attack on PM Modi, expresses regret after backlash

The Karnataka assembly elections are a fortnight away, and every stakeholder is campaigning in full swing to win the elections. Now, Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress party’s national president, launched a personal attack on PM Modi while campaigning in Kalaburagi, Karnataka. 

Taking a dig at PM Modi, Kharge said, “PM Modi is like a poisonous snake, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead…” 

But after facing flak over his jibe at PM Modi, Kharge attempted to cover up and said, “It wasn't meant for PM Modi, what I meant was BJP's ideology is 'like a snake'. I never said this personally for PM Modi, what I said was their ideology is like a snake and if you try to touch it, your death is certain,”

Kharge expresses regret over his statement

Kharge also offered his apology over his statement on PM Modi and said, “If my statement has hurt anyone, if it was misconstrued and distressed anyone, I will express special regret for it.”

“All I said there was this, we have differences over ideology. The ideology of RSS and BJP is poisonous. But they linked it to the Prime Minister and said that Kharge commented about him. Let me explain, it has never been my intention to speak about one person or hurt someone ever.”

On April 24, Kharge slammed BJP and stated that many parties and leaders are mixing politics with religion. He said, “Politics and religion should not be mixed. Some parties and leaders are trying to mix them these days. Different people in one community can like different parties. Individuals in one household can have different preferences. We should not tend to club them together. Such ideas are regressive and weaken our Democracy and Constitution. My advice to BJP leaders is to not play one community against another for the greed of votes.”

He further stated, "For many years Karnataka, is known for conscientious voting. But now the BJP has made our state unpopular and infamous for the 40 per cent commission Government. Everyone is aware of it. The Contractors Association brought it to the notice of the PM, the President of India, the Governor, and the Lokayukta. They gave details of how the present state government was looting them. People are fed up with this exploitation." 

The Karnataka assembly which consists of 224 seats is all set to go into polls in the upcoming elections on May 10 and the election results will be out on May 13. 

(With agency inputs)