Karnataka Congress on Monday was left embarrassed after it put out a derogatory Tweet against Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him a ‘lazy’ and an ‘illiterate.’
In a tweet from its official Twitter account, Karnataka Congress in Kannada said, “Congress built schools but Modi never went to study. Congress even set up schemes for adults to learn, Modi didn’t learn there too. Even though begging is prohibited, people who are lazy have made the country’s people beggars. The country is suffering because of #angoothachhaapmodi.”
The shameful Tweet from Congress came just ahead of the bypolls to be held for the Sindagi and Hanagala constituencies on October 30 in Karnataka.
‘Uncivil Tweet by a novice‘, says DK Shivakumar
After the Tweet sparked a political row, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar reportedly asked his team to take down the social media post.
In a statement, Shivakumar pinned the blame of the distasteful Tweet on a ‘novice social media handler.’
I have always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse. An uncivil tweet made by a novice social media manager through the Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn.
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) October 18, 2021
“I have always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse. An uncivil tweet by a novice social media manager via Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn,” Tweeted Shivakumar.
Congress spokesperson defends the Tweet
While Karnataka Congress President seemed apologetic about the Tweet, Congress Spokesperson Lavanya Ballal while speaking with NDTV defended the Tweet claiming that Karnataka BJP has put out worse Tweets insulting Congress leadership using crude and crass language.
“The tweet was tongue-in-cheek but it is not as disgusting as some of the tweets that have come out of #Karnataka BJP in the last one week”: @LavanyaBallal, Congress Spokesperson pic.twitter.com/falrsw4wNf
— NDTV (@ndtv) October 18, 2021
When asked by the anchor if the Tweet by Congress was a ‘tit-for-tat’, Ballal retaliated asking, “Having you ever questioned BJP for their conduct,” thereby evading the question.
Congress and foul language
This is not the first time that Congress has used derogatory and unparliamentary language for the Prime Minister of India. In a discussion on Times Now Navbharat last month, a Congress spokesperson, Mudit Agarwal said that PM Modi ‘sells his mother on TV’.
While talking about PM Modi’s background, the Congress spokesperson said, “He has never sold tea. He was lying. He is the kind of person who sells his mother on television.
PM Modi himself, while addressing a rally in 2019 had listed the abuses hurled at him by Congress. “A leader of Congress called me ‘gandi naali ka keeda’, one leader called me a mad dog, another one called me Bhasmasura. One more Congress leader, who was external affairs minister, called me a monkey while another minister compared me with Dawood Ibrahim,” Modi had said.
“They even abused my mother and even asked who my father is and remember all this was said after I became Prime Minister,” he had added further.
In November 2018, Congress leader Raj Babbar had mocked PM Modi’s mother by saying how the Rupee is devaluating so much that it is reaching her age (97/98).
Earlier, a Congress leader and MP candidate had equated PM Modi’s and UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s aunt, mother and sister to stray cattle.
Congress, in fact, has never shied away from running entire political campaigns insulting the BJP leader. From ‘chaiwalla’ jibe to ‘chowkidaar chor hai,’ the old party keeps sinking to new lows.
