Slugfest over Mallikarjun Kharge's RSS remarks, Pawan Khera's claims on Assam CM's wife

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for making alleged disparaging comments against the party and its ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), at an election rally in Assam, and filed complaints with state police and the Election Commission (EC) against the senior leader.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, senior BJP leader and lawmaker Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned Kharge’s alleged remarks comparing the BJP and RSS to “poisonous snakes,” terming them “deeply objectionable” and beyond the limits of acceptable political discourse. He also demanded an apology from Kharge for his alleged remarks on the people of Gujarat and some other states, saying that the comment was “shameless, demeaning and utterly despicable”.

“Do they agree with this statement? If Rahul Gandhi has any sense, he should distance himself from this remark, condemn it, and demand an apology,” Prasad said, adding that Kharge “does not deserve to remain Congress president” for making such comments, and questioned if he had “abandoned all sense of dignity” associated with the post.
The position he holds was once occupied by leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, Sonia Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and even Rahul Gandhi. What kind of language is being used by someone holding such a post? Kharge’s comment is not only demeaning, but shameless and utterly despicable,” he said.

At an election rally in Kerala’s Idukki on Sunday, Kharge had said the people of the state were “educated and clever” and cannot be misled, unlike those who were “illiterate” in Gujarat and some other places.
Prasad demanded that the Congress president apologise to the people of Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “Kharge, you owe an apology to the country. On behalf of the BJP, we demand that you apologise for calling the people of Gujarat illiterate.”
On Kharge’s comment against the BJP and the RSS, Prasad said his comments are an attempt to malign “patriotic organisations.” “He has made a very offensive statement,” 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 is passing in front of someone, even if he is offering namaz, then he should leave the namaz and kill that poisonous snake.

“I would say that breaking the namaz does not matter. The RSS and the BJP are that poisonous snake,” Kharge had said.

Meanwhile, BJP social media in-charge Ranjib Kumar Sarmah filed a police complaint against Kharge, alleging that the Congress president made “derogatory statements”. The FIR was registered at the Basistha police station in Guwahati. The spokesperson said that another complaint has been lodged with EC.

source:hindustantimes.com