Guwahati/New Delhi, April 7 – Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's "poisonous snake" remarks about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS on Tuesday, stating that the ruling party was stooping to "abysmal levels to shame India".
Addressing a massive election rally in Patharkandi, Assam's Sribhumi district, the Home Minister said that the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, was becoming a threat to the nation and that the "venomous" language was a danger to democracy.
"On April 9, the people of Assam should give a fitting response to the Congress party. You must ensure that it is relegated to the margins in the upcoming elections," Amit Shah said, eliciting loud cheers and support from the crowd.
Home Minister Shah also stated that the BJP government in Assam had already identified infiltrators and vowed to "remove them one by one".
The controversy over "poisonous snake" originated from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks, who, while addressing a public rally in Kerala, compared the BJP and the RSS to "poisonous snakes" and said that they should be crushed.
Kharge's remark drew strong condemnation from the BJP, which took umbrage at the vitriolic remarks.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala accused the Congress leader of inciting the minority community to attack BJP and RSS members, while pointing to Kharge's inciting remarks at a minority community event.
Labeling the INC as "Indian Jihadi Congress", he said that the party had "crossed a new low" and that the rhetoric was dangerous and highly undemocratic.
He also demanded that the Election Commission take notice of the vile remarks and acts against him.
The political row over Kharge's remarks comes on the heels of another controversy, sparked by his calling Gujaratis as "illiterates". His dig at Gujaratis during the election campaign in Kerala drew widespread condemnation from BJP leaders.
Home Minister Shah, while criticising Kharge over the remarks, stated, "The Congress president said that Gujarat and those states which support the BJP are illiterate. The Congress, which calls Gujarat – which has given leaders like Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Vikram Sarabhai, and Modi ji – illiterate, will receive a response from the people."
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, taking strong objection to it, said that anti-Gujarat "poison" flows in the Congress party's DNA and demanded an apology.
Kharge had said that people in the southern state are "educated and clever" and cannot be misled, unlike those in Gujarat.