"Party Steeped In...": ML Khattar Jabs Congress Over Remarks On PM Modi

Reacting to the remarks of Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan's derogatory remarks targeted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and at him, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that the people of the state will give a reply to the grand old party.  

Taking to the social media platform, X, the Haryana Chief Minister said, "The party steeped in nepotism and people enslaved by the mentality of nepotism will not be able to understand that Honorable Prime Minister, I consider 140 crore people of the country and 3.25 crore people of Haryana as my family. It is not me but the people of our family who will answer to Congress..."

Earlier on Saturday, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan used derogatory language to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. 

In a viral video, the Haryana Congress chief can be heard using abusive words while referring to the Prime Minister and the Haryana Chief Minister.

The remarks made by Bhan led to a controversy with several BJP leaders condemning it and seeking an apology from the Congress party.

Reacting to it, Haryana BJP chief OP Dhankhar said that the Congress should apologize. 

"It was an unfortunate statement. The Congress should apologize. It should feel shame. Udai Bhan crossed all limits of indecency. But I saw another video of his, what is more unfortunate is that he is justifying his remarks", Dhankhar said while speaking to ANI. 

Udai Bhan, seen to be a loyalist of former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was made Haryana Congress chief in 2022. He replaced Kumari Selja who was made AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh.

Asked about his remarks, Bhan remained unapologetic claiming that his words “were Haryanvi slang”.

"What have I said that is wrong…I have only described the truth. Is this language wrong, this is a normal language in Haryana. We call unmarried men by this slang in Haryana and that is not an abuse," Udai Bhan told ANI.

"I have only spoken the truth. If I had said something wrong, like what was said by that MP, I would have apologised. This is just a light comment made at a press conference which has been made into a needless issue. This is normal language used in Haryana," he added.

The BJP has demanded that the Congress take action against its state unit chief.

Party Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that Congress has always used this kind of language for the Prime Minister.

"This video has caused extreme pain and anguish among BJP workers and the common man. This is below-the-belt language, it is the height of low-level politics which is being played by the Congress. Congress has always used this kind of language for the PM and his family," he said.

"When one of our MPs made an unparliamentary remark in the House (Lok Sabha) our senior leader apologised for that and the party sent him a notice, what action will the Congress take against someone who is their state unit chief and thus the official voice of the party?" he asked.

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