But Rahul and Siddaramaiah clandestinely took the vaccine at night," Nalin Kumar Kateel said.
Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel has made sharp remarks on the marital status of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi which met with strong reaction from the opposition party.
During the BJP's 'Jana Sankalpa Yatra' in Ramanagara on Sunday, the BJP state chief alleged Mr Gandhi had urged people to not get the COVID vaccines administered as it would lead to impotence.
"What did Rahul Gandhi say? Rahul Gandhi and (former Karnataka CM) Siddaramaiah asked people not to take the COVID vaccine as they will not be able to produce children. But Rahul and Siddaramaiah clandestinely took the vaccine at night," said Mr Kateel, an MP from Dakshina Kannada.
Quoting a BJP MLC from Karnataka, the party leader claimed: "That's why our MLC said Rahul Gandhi did not marry because he cannot have children."
Outraged by the statement, Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala called Mr Kateel a "joker".
"A 'Joker in BJP's Circus' in Karnataka is suffering from perpetual 'verbal diarrhoea' - except that in his case, it is both-physical and mental. Since no one pays attention to him, he makes stupid statements to be in news. U guessed it right - it is Nalin Kateel. Pl ignore him!" Mr Surjewala tweeted.
"Such stupidities are always the refuge of cowards & fools - a classical BJP trait! They will insult science & scientists. They will oppose scientific temper. They will promote orthodoxy. They will promote skulduggery. They should be relegated to the dustbin of history," he added.
Assembly polls in Karnataka are due by May.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)