Kalaburagi (Karnataka) [India], August 22 (ANI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "Dimagi Naxals" remark, saying the government should focus on issues concerning the public, including unemployment, inflation and investment.
"PM Modi is using the new word 'Dimagi Naxals'. So, all of us are 'Dimagi Naxals'. Talk about what you are doing for the country. Speak about employment, inflation, investments, and giving jobs to the hands of the nation's people. Leaving all that aside, you talk about how Vande Mataram wasn't sung, " he said during an event here.
He said that Congress made sacrifices for the independence of this country.
"Are we the traitors to this nation? We fought for the independence of this country. You, on the other hand, surrendered to the British, gave them written letters of apology, and today you claim to be patriots. Aren't you ashamed? Today, they tell us, "We are the patriots, and those who do not sing 'Vande Mataram' are anti-nationals. PM Modi, when he was Chief Minister, why didn't he sing it then? He should have sung the whole song if he wanted. The truth is, you don't even know how to read it. Tomorrow, governments will change. Tomorrow, another government will come, and if they say, "No, no, we don't want any of this," will you keep changing it again?"
The remarks came amid a political slugfest between the BJP and opposition parties over the Vande Mataram issue.
In the Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that while Naxals who took up arms in the jungles had been eliminated, there were also "dimagi naxals" present in different parts of the country who needed to be "identified and isolated". (ANI)
"Talk about what you have done for country?" Mallikarjun Kharge slams PM Modi
