New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday staged protests at its party headquarters and in several states across the country, demanding an apology from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his alleged “derogatory” remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP leaders and workers took to the streets in different parts of the country, raising slogans against Kharge and calling on him to apologise for his comments.
In Delhi, State BJP president Harsh Malhotra, along with several other party leaders, staged a protest outside Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence.
Demonstrations were also held in Bihar, Jammu, Kolkata in West Bengal, Bengaluru in Karnataka and MJ Market in Telangana, with protesters carrying party flags, burning effigies and displaying posters of the Congress chief.
In Bihar, a large number of BJP leaders and workers took out a protest march, raising slogans against Kharge and demanding an apology from the Congress president. During the demonstration, protesters also set fire to an effigy of Kharge to register their Opposition to his remarks.
In Kolkata, BJP workers also held a protest march against the Congress chief. The demonstrators carried BJP flags and an effigy of Kharge as they raised slogans condemning his remarks and sought an apology from him over the controversy.
In Bengaluru, Karnataka, BJP leaders staged a protest at Freedom Park, demanding an apology from Kharge over his comments concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s father. Police detained the protesting leaders during the demonstration.
In Jammu, BJP workers staged a similar protest, burning posters of the Congress president and shouting slogans against him. The demonstrators demanded that Kharge withdraw his comments and apologise for the language used while referring to the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders also staged a protest at MJ Market in Telangana, joining party workers in other states in condemning Kharge’s remarks and demanding an apology from the Congress president.
The protests were organised amid a political controversy triggered by Kharge’s address at a Congress event in Patna on Sunday. The programme was organised to mark the birth anniversary of Sri Krishna Singh, Bihar’s first Chief Minister.
During the programme, a person in the audience reportedly interrupted Kharge, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not leave power.
Responding to the interruption, Kharge said, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” (Even Modi’s father will have to go). The Congress president reportedly repeated the remark several times, triggering a political controversy and drawing criticism over the language used while referring to the Prime Minister.
