New Delhi: Campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly Polls, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that a few leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to kill him and dared the latter to do so but he would not be scared.
In an emptional appeal to his voters in home state Karnataka, the Congress chief said, “…if they (BJP leaders) want to kill me then they may but I wll not fear.”
The Congress leader said, “I will not fear but fight for the principles as I did in the Parliament and will do so outside.” He asserted that he will continue to fight for poor in attempts to protect their interests.
“But until I have my last breath, I will continue to fight for the poor and try to protect them. Until you (people) are with me, I have no fear,” he added.
Taking a dig at the saffron party, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “Nobody lives 200 years. In India, the average age to die is 80 and I’m 81. I am living in bonus.”
‘Bhoomi Putra of Karnataka like PM Modi in Gujarat,’ says Kharge
The Congress chief asserted that the saffron party has nothing to offer to people of the poll-bound state Karnataka. Meanwhile, he also took a swipe at Prime Minister Modi on the latter’s remarks of being a “Bhoomi Putra” of Gujarat.
He said, “I want to tell Modi now that I’m the ‘bhoomi putra’ of Karnataka and Gulbarga (Kalaburagi). The right you have in Gujarat, I have here and I should get it. You have done nothing for my place, but I’m asking after working for my region. What have you done to seek votes here?”
I’m no one without you: Kharge to Karnataka
“But Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) has got the post of Congress national president and saving it is in your hand, bringing respect to it is in your hands. Or else others will say Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) was made president but people there didn’t even choose an MLA.”
Kharge urged people to ensure victory of the Congress by making it win all the seats in Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts.
“You should make sure Congress wins all 13 seats. Then I will get respect and also to those who made me president, and also to you, as I’m no one without you.”
In 52 years, Kharge said, he never brought a bad name to his people. “I have fought against JD(S), BJP, Modi in Parliament, I have fought for justice.”
BJP Conspiring To Kill Kharge: Surjewala
Earlier, the Congress alleged that the saffron party has plotted a conspiracy to slay Mallikarjun Kharge, his wife and his entire family.
Senior Congress leader and party’s general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala released the clip, purportedly recorded from a phone call between the BJP candidate for Chittapur seat, Manikanta Rathod, and a BJP worker named Ravi.
“Intimidated by the all-round blessings of Kannadigas being showered on the Congress, and facing a complete rout in the Assembly elections, the BJP and its leadership are now resorting to hatching a murder plot to kill the AICC president, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, his wife and the entire family,” Surjewala alleged.
Manikant Rathore
Manikant Rathore, the BJP candidate from Chittapur, had used derogatory language for Kharge and was talking about killing him and his family.
Surjewala said that this matter should not be taken lightly, nor should it be ignored. He said that the people of Karnataka know the track of accused Manikant better than me. He is special to PM Modi and CM Bommai.
