A delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday to lodge a strong protest against Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘terrorist’ remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and to demand exemplary action to serve as a 'deterrent' for others who try to breach political red lines.
The high-level BJP delegation comprised Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Nirmala Sitharaman and Arjun Ram Meghwal, and BJP national General Secretary Arun Singh, who all urged the Election Commission to intervene and take action against "venomous remarks" by the Congress chief.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju, while speaking to the media, said the BJP delegation conveyed the party’s deep sorrow and anger over the abominable language used by Congress president against the Prime Minister and called for taking immediate cognisance.
Rijiju further said, “For Kharge to call PM Modi a 'terrorist' is not just a remark but a grave insult to the entire nation. Such disgraceful conduct cannot be normalised.” According to him, the poll panel has taken note of their concerns and assured them of adequate action over name-calling in the midst of elections.
Rijiju further informed that they have demanded that the Congress party and Kharge apologise before the nation, and exemplary action should follow so that a clear message goes down in the political discourse, so that no one dares to cross the limits.
Nirmala Sitharaman, too, in scathing criticism of the Congress party, called out its “pattern and history” of abusing the Prime Minister. “Today, we appeared before the polling commission to bring to their notice that the President of Congress and the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha have spoken in such condemnable words.
The Congress has shown a pattern of repeatedly using abusive language against the Prime Minister,” Sitharaman said. “There’s no change or correction in their course. They have not changed their approach,” she added. Terming the conduct “outrageous”, she said that this was driven by the Congress party’s ‘deep hatred’ for the Prime Minister, and this calls for a firm and stern action against the guilty.
BJP’s anger and outrage over Kharge follows the latter’s obnoxious remarks made against the Prime Minister during a presser in Tamil Nadu, on the last day of the poll campaign. Though Kharge later claimed that this was not what he meant, it has failed to convince the BJP, which smells a “motive and pattern” by the Congress leader, just ahead of elections.
Kharge’s remarks that created a political firestorm read, “How can these AIADMK people join hands with Modi when their party itself was founded by Annadurai? He is a terrorist. His party does not believe in equality and justice. These people are joining with them – it means they are weakening democracy.”