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by IANS |
Guwahati/New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘poisonous snake’ jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS, stating that the grand old party was stooping to abysmal levels to “put India to shame”.
Addressing a mega election rally in Patharkandi of Assam’s Sribhumi district, the Home Minister said that Rahul Gandhi-led Congress was becoming a threat to the nation and termed the 'venomous' language as a danger to democracy.
“On April 9, people of Assam should give a befitting reply to the Congress party. You will have to ensure that it is reduced to the margins in upcoming polls,” Amit Shah said, evoking loud cheers and support from the crowd.
HM Shah also stated that the BJP government in Assam has already identified infiltrators and vowed that they would be “removed one by one”.
The controversy over ‘poisonous snake’ emanated from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks, who, while addressing a public rally in Kerala, likened the BJP and RSS to ‘poisonous snake’ and said that it should be crushed.
Kharge’s remark drew strong condemnation from the BJP, which took umbrage at the vitriolic remarks.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala accused the Congress leader of inciting the minority community to kill BJP and RSS members, while pointing to Kharge’s inciting remarks at a minority community event.
Labelling the INC as “Indian Jihadi Congress”, he said that the party has crossed a “new low” and termed the rhetoric as dangerous and highly undemocratic.
He also demanded that the Election Commission take notice of the vile remarks and acts against him.
The political row over Kharge’s remarks comes close on the heels of another controversy, stirred by his dubbing of Gujaratis as “illiterates”. His dig at Gujaratis made during the election campaign in Kerala drew widespread condemnation from BJP leaders.
HM Shah, while criticising Kharge over the remarks, stated, "The Congress president said that Gujarat and those states which support the BJP are illiterate. The Congress, which calls Gujarat -- which gave leaders like Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Vikram Sarabhai, and Modi ji -- illiterate, will get a response from the people."
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, taking strong objection to it, said that anti-Gujarat “poison" flows in the Congress party’s DNA and demanded an apology.
Kharge had said that people in the southern state are “educated and clever" and cannot be misled and misguided, unlike those in Gujarat.
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