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Mallikarjun Kharge expresses regret after BJP claims he called Gujaratis ‘illiterate’
Mallikarjun Kharge's clarification on the controversy came a day after the BJP alleged that he called Gujaratis “illiterate” during a rally in Kerala.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge expressed regret on Wednesday, a day after his remarks at a rally in Kerala triggered a political row, with the BJP seeking his apology. In an X post, Kharge said that his remarks were “deliberately misinterpreted”, but added that he still expresses regret.
“It was never my intention to hurt the sentiments of the people of Gujarat for whom I have always had and will continue to have the highest of respect,” Kharge said in the post.
His clarification on the controversy came a day after the BJP alleged that he called Gujaratis “illiterate” during a rally in Kerala, and sought the Congress MP's apology.
According to news agency PTI, at an election rally in Kerala's Idukki district 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.
Kharge's remarks raked up a big political storm on Tuesday. Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to clarify whether they agreed with Kharge's statement.
"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. Prasad also questioned Kharge's role as Congress president and wondered if he had “abandoned all sense of dignity”.
"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, as quoted by PTI.
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Kharge's RSS remarks spark row
Not just his remarks at the Kerala rally, Kharge's comments on the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at an election rally in Assam also drew the BJP's ire.
Citing the Quran, Kharge had allegedly said that 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.
The BJP lashed out at the Congress for Kharge's remarks and said that they were an attempt to malign “patriotic organisations.”
