Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday that the quality of political discourse is going down, adding that standards should not be lowered to that of those who use bad language.
Tharoor was responding to a question on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's recent remark on people of Gujarat that has drawn criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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.
"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.
Tharoor's advice
{{/usCountry}}"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.
Tharoor's advice
{{/usCountry}}In what appeared to be an advice for his party colleague, Tharoor on Tuesday said while speaking with reporters, “Quality of political discourse going down, our standards should not be lowered to that of those who use bad language.”
The BJP on Tuesday demanded an apology from Kharge for his alleged remarks, saying that the comment was "shameless, demeaning and utterly despicable."
Addressing a press conference, 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.
Prasad said 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," PTI news agency quoted Prasad as saying.
He added said Gujarat has produced several national leaders and intellectuals.
"What does it mean when the president of a national party calls an entire state's people illiterate? I want to pose a serious question to the party's national platform," Prasad said.
He 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," he said, adding that such remarks were "divisive" and unbecoming of the president of a national party.