"Modi is a poisonous snake": Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge stirs row

Gadag: AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on stirred a hornet's nest by calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a poisonous snake.

"Modi is a poisonous snake. If someone wants to test by licking whether it is poisonous or not, don't do it. If licked, (you are) dead. Therefore, one must always think about the country to save (from such leaders)," he said, addressing a rally in Naregal town of Gajendragad taluk of Gadag district.

This statement against PM Modi may find Congress party in difficulty in days to come as the BJP would not miss an opportunity to pounce on it, and launch a campaign to gain public sympathy.

Earlier in Gujarat elections too Kharge had compared PM Modi to Ravana, which the BJP made a big issue that became one of the factors for the saffron party to win by a historical margin.

Retaliating Kharge's jibe against Modi, BJP IT Cell Incharge Amit Malviya said it shows that the Congress is losing in Karnataka. "Now the Congress President has called the Prime Minister a poisonous snake. It started with Sonia Gandhi's Maut Ka Saudagar and what was its end? We all know this. To what extent will the Congress stoop? The way this statement is made in desperation. It is clear from that that Congress is losing in Karnataka," he tweeted.

Further flaying Modi, Kharge said the prime minister's adherence to saffron ideology is ruining the country. "What is your ideology? What is your point of view? It is very bad, and it is ruining the country," he said.

Kharge also said if Congress wins Karnataka election, it will win the entire country as it will bring in change. "If you see people standing in the hot sun, you will feel that change is certain," he said.

Corruption is rampant in Karnataka, and no action has been taken against scamsters by the state government, Kharge alleged.

However, the BJP claims that it has jailed its own MLA Madal Virupakshappa, Chilume, PSI and Bitcoin scamsters in jail. "What more can a government do other than arresting. It is the ultimate punishment the government can do to maintain law and order," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had stated earlier. (UNI)