"Country Shocked Listening To Congress Leaders' Language": PM In Karnataka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday charged the Congress and JD(S) with trying to indulge in politics when the Centre was trying to rescue people from war-torn Sudan and Ukraine, and during the Covid crisis.

He also hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his MLA-son Priyank Kharge for allegedly calling him 'poisonous snake' and 'nalayak' (worthless) respectively.

"The identification of good and bad companions happens at the time of crisis. Whenever the country is in crisis, Congress and JD(S) leaders have done politics on that crisis too," PM Modi said.

Addressing a public meeting in Raichur district, he said, "Civil war is on in Sudan these days, bullets are being fired, bombs are exploding and there is an outcry. We (government) are working day and night to get every Indian citizen back from there safely, but Congress leaders did politics on this too, and tried to instigate several families."

"Whether it is the Ukraine crisis or Corona global crisis, these people, Congress and JD(S) are involved in spreading lies, disappointment and doing their politics. They did only these things. But the strong BJP government despite all their attempts is not leaving any stone unturned in its attempts to bring every Indian back safely from the crisis," he added.

Alleging that Congress is making every attempt to insult Karnataka's great legacy, the Prime Minister said it is attempting to stain the state's legacy, and the greatness of people here.

"Listening to Congress and its leaders' language, words, and seeing their egoistic attitude in this election campaign, not just me, the whole country is shocked. Every aware citizen is feeling ashamed of it," he said, adding that the opposition party has forgotten to respect Karnataka's 'maan maryada' (pride and dignity).

The Prime Minister charged that at the beginning of election campaigning, Mr Kharge took on the role of "opening batsman" to enter the field and called the former a "snake" to make "one family happy" despite the latter's long experience in politics.

"Then his son (Priyank Kharge) took over the command. Whatever the 'layak' (worthy) father said, his 'layak' (worthy) son took it forward. Whatever happened, I can't even repeat it," he said, adding that people of the state will respond to Congress who "stained" Karnataka's dignity.

"I want to urge the Congress leaders, tell whatever you want about Modi, but kindly don't bring down the standard of electoral discourse, respecting the great legacy of Karnataka," he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)