Reacting to the leaked viral video of Congress Karnataka president DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddharamiah, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said that it exposed the hypocrisy of Congress where worshipping dynasties is far more important than giving respect to founding fathers of our country.
Speaking to ANI, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology said that the Karnataka Congress is doing Yeoman's service to the people of the state by having these hot mic moments.
"A few weeks ago two workers were caught discussing the corruption of DK Shivkumar. Today Shivakumar and Siddharamiah have spoken about how much respect they have for Patel. It exposes repeatedly hypocrisy of Congress where worshipping dynasties is far more important than giving respect to founding fathers of our country, including Sardar Patel who played important role in the unification of India post-Independence," said Chandrasekhar.
The video has predictably drawn criticism from the BJP, with National General Secretary CT Ravi tweeting: "It is a shame that slaves are so much scared of an Italian" - a snide reference to opposition party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Recalling Congress's criticism over "Statue of Unity", he said, "When the "Statue of Unity" was unveiled and dedicated to the nation they had criticized Sardar Patel then. Congress never recognised Patel or gave them Bharat Ratna while every member of their family was given Bharat Ratna."
These incidents are serving a very important purpose for the people of India to realise what kind of establishment the Congress the party is and the kind of people and leaders are in the party, he added.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar was seemingly persuaded to install the photograph of former deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, his birth anniversary, at an event organised at the Bengaluru party office to mark the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In a viral video, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is seen asking Shivakumar to install Patel's picture along with Indira Gandhi, as Bharatiya Janata Party may criticise, and take advantage if they did not put up Sardar Patel's photograph.
Replying to Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar is heard saying that "we never keep Patel's picture on the day". However, he is later seen instructing an employee at the Congress office to bring the photograph of Sardar Patel.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875. The Congress had organised an event at its Bengaluru office to mark the death anniversary of former Indira Gandhi.
The video was released by BJP MLA and former minister MP Renukacharya on October 31. This is not the first time that Shivakumar has faced faux pas over videos related to him going viral.
Earlier in October, in a viral video, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee media coordinator MA Salim and former Lok Sabha MP VS Ugrappa were seen alleging that Shivakumar takes bribes and stutters while talking as if he is drunk.
The two leaders compared senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah to Shivakumar saying that while the former was 'powerful', the latter acted like a 'drunkard.'
