Karnataka Elections 2023: War of words hits new low as Mallikarjun Kharge calls PM Modi a ‘poisonous snake’; BJP hits back

While addressing a political rally in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi on Thursday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like a “poisonous snake”

"PM Modi is like a 'poisonous snake', you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead...," said Kharge.

BJP hits back

Reacting to Kharge's statement, Union minister Anurag Thakur said that the statement given by him is worse than that of Congress's former president Sonia Gandhi.

"Congress made Mallikarjun Kharge the party president but nobody considers him that, so he thought of giving a statement which is worse than that given by Sonia Gandhi...," Thakur said.

Thakur further said that Congress party should apologies to the nation for Kharge's remark.

Union Minister Smriti Irani too slammed Kharge for his statement.

In a statement to news agency ANI Irani said, "Mallikarjun Kharge's statement is a reflection of what the Gandhi family feels about PM...He gave clarification that he was attacking BJP's ideology. BJP's ideology is nation first. So is he saying he was not attacking PM Modi, rather he was attacking India."

Kharge's damage control

Facing outrage over his comments, Kharge said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is like a snake. If you try to lick you will ultimately die after that. I didn't talk about him (PM Modi). I don't make personal statements. I mean to say their ideology is like snake. If you try to lick, death will be inevitable.”

Here is what Kharge said earlier

Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge was seen appealing to the public to give the grand old party a chance and asked them to vote with a great margin so that BJP won't be able to "steal MLAs".

"Karnataka should witness a change in government, the public is also ready. I am also appealing to you to give Congress a greater margin of victory as the trend of stealing MLAs is prevalent," Kharge said in a video posted by the Congress party.

He further said that the incumbent Karnataka government is formed by after the turncoats joined the party. "This has happened in many states before. If we have a big majority, MLAs won't have the power to destabilise the government by threatening to leave," he added.

The elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.