Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday triggered a political controversy after he likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “Ravan” during a rally in poll-bound Gujarat.
While the BJP slammed Kharge’s remarks as an “insult” to every Gujarati, the Congress said the party chief was being attacked for being a Dalit.
Taking a swipe at Modi at a rally in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura area on Monday night, Kharge said the Prime Minister asks people to vote “looking at his face” in all elections. “How many times do we have to see your face... Do you have 100 heads like Ravan,” he said.
Taking exception to the remarks, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked voters in Gujarat to do “100% voting for the son of the soil” Modi to take “revenge” in a democratic manner for the “insult”.
The BJP’s IT department head, Amit Malviya, tweeted: “Unable to take the heat of Gujarat election, pushed to the fringe... Kharge loses control over his words, calls PM Modi ‘Ravan’.”
Congress’s media department head Pawan Khera hit back at Malviya, asking “why can’t you digest the fact that a Dalit who has worked his way up is the elected president of the Congress”.
“Calling him fringe shows what you and your party thinks of Dalits,” he said in a tweet.
{{/usCountry}}“Calling him fringe shows what you and your party thinks of Dalits,” he said in a tweet.
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