Karnataka: Congress leader Hariprasad likens PM Modi to devil, CM Bommai hits back

Bengaluru: Ahead of assembly elections, a bitter war of words has erupted between the state BJP and Congress leaders. On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai flayed senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad for likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a devil.

"There is a Modi wave here (Karnataka). They (Opposition) can see defeat now, and due to desperation, they are talking this way. It shows the culture of the Congress party," he told reporters here.

Earlier, Hariprasad said PM Modi reportedly coaxing his party leaders to take Muslims into confidence is like the devil preaching scriptures.

"Narendra Modi speaking about taking Muslims into confidence is like the devil preaching scriptures. Devil cannot preach scriptures because BBC 1 and 2 series has clearly said Narendra Modi, when he was the CM, he was solely responsible for the massacre of; genocide of the minorities of Gujarat," Hariprasad said.

During elections the BJP wants to go for these kinds of gimmicks which people are not ready to accept, he added.

While addressing the BJP national executive meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, PM Modi advised party leaders to start working to reach out to all communities, including minorities and refrain from speaking against Muslim community.

On the contrary to Hariprasad's statement, the Supreme Court in June last year had upheld the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots in the state.

The top court also dismissed a petition by slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri's wife Zakia Jafri.

Zakia had submitted that there was a "larger conspiracy where there was bureaucratic inaction, police complicity, hate speeches and unleashing of violence." (UNI)