True to his nature, Congress President Malikarjun Kharge has done it again.
While addressing a rally in Idukki district of Kerala on Sunday, he said the people of Kerala are “educated and clever” and cannot be misled, unlike those in Gujarat and some other places.
At the rally, Kharge said, "Don't misguide the people of Kerala. They are very clever, they are educated. Modi ji, Vijay (Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan), you both can fool those who are illiterate in Gujarat or other places, but you can't fool Kerala people."
Predictably, the BJP has hit back strongly and correctly. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi also launched a blistering attack on Kharge in a post on X, saying his remarks amounted to an insult to the six crore people of Gujarat and the state’s legacy of giving the country Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But then the fact remains that Kharge is just a mask; the real leadership of the party is with Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia Gandhi. Kharge only does and speaks what pleases his master, Rahul Gandhi, these days.
One needs to be reminded here that under the leadership of the Gandhis, the Congress, in recent years, has been the number one egregious political party in lowering the level of political discourse not only within the parliament but also outside.
No party other than the Congress uses aggressive, derogatory, filthy or foul language against the political opponents, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Let us remember the following “pearls” that emanated from the mouths of the Congress leaders in recent years:
Sonia Gandhi: Modi is "maut ka saudagar" (merchant of death).
Rahul Gandhi: “Modi Chowkidar is Chor”; "jawano ke khoon ka dalal" (broker of soldiers' blood); and consistent personal attacks against PM Modi, including the recent one of linking him to controversial international figures like Epstein.
Digvijay Singh: “Modi is a big liar; there is no authenticity of sensitive events like the 2016 surgical strikes”.
Imran Masood: “" will chop" Narendra Modi into pieces in Uttar Pradesh”
Mani Shankar Aiyar: “Chaiwala Modi cannot become the Prime Minister” and a “Neech Aadmi (low-level person) “.
This being the background, Kharge, it seems, does not want to remain behind others in attacking Modi and his Gujarat origin.
But then, Gujaratis have not been the only ones facing Kharge’s truants. He has likened the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to "poison" and favoured a ban on the organisation.
Kharge has also been involved in heated exchanges with the Rajya Sabha chairperson and BJP leaders, including a 2025 incident regarding a "Hum Sarkar Ko Thokenge" ( will hammer the government, a language that sexual overtone), a remark which led to a demand for an apology.
In fact, he often tries to dictate to the Chair what he should do and why he must give primacy to what and whenever the leader of opposition ( Kharge happens to occupy that position ) without any restriction whatsoever. In fact, he says that even if unparliamentary, his language should not be removed from the parliamentary records, as that violates his freedom of speech!
In fact, Kharge’s son, Priyank Kharge, who is a senior minister in Karnataka, has gone even further than his father in mastering foul language and using it effortlessly. He was the one who supported the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu’s views on Hindus and said that
Sanataan Dharm is a disease that needs to be eradicated”.
What all these examples prove is that today’s Congress is not bothered about the deteriorating civility in Indian political discourse. Since it is losing elections one after another, the likes of Kharge obediently follow their supreme leader Rahul Gandhi’s policy of remaining in the media headlines through irresponsible and malicious language against the opponents.
If nothing else, their “leader” becomes happy.
Leave Your Comment