The war of words erupted after the Congress president called CM Yogi, ‘leader in the guise of Sadhus.’ Reacting to it, Yogi Adityanath had said Mallikarjun Kharge should get angry at the Hyderabad Nizam, highlighting his family tragedy in which Razakars burnt his village, and killed his family.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s son and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge slammed Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for raking up the family tragedy. In a long post on social media platform X, junior Kharge said that indeed Razakars burned down the family house and took the lives of the Congress president’s mother and sister but he never exploited it for political gain.
He said, “Yes, Yogi Adityanath ji, in 1948, the Razakars burned down Mallikarjun Kharge ji’s house, taking the lives of his mother and sister. Though he narrowly escaped, he survived and rose to become a 9 time MLA, twice Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MP, central minister, the Leader of the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and an elected Congress President.”
He added, “Despite the tragedy, he never exploited it for political gain, never played the victim card and never let hatred define him. It was the Razakars who committed this act—not the entire Muslim community. Every community has bad apples and individuals who do wrong.
What did CM Yogi say?
Priyank Kharge’s statement came after UP CM on Tuesday responded to the Congress president’s jab against him. UP CM had said, these days Mallikarjun Kharge is getting unnecessarily angry at me instead of getting angry at Hyderabad’s Nizam Razakars, who wreaked havoc in his village by burning down the entire village, which killed his family also. However, Yogi mentioned that he would not do the same as Kharge had since buried his feelings “for the sake of (the Congress’) vote bank.
What had Congress president said?
It is pertinent to note that the statement by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was in response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s veiled dig against him. The Congress chief speaking at the Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan earlier lashed out at Yogi Adityanath for spreading hatred among the people and trying to divide them.
“Many leaders live in the guise of Sadhus and have now become politicians. Some have even become chief ministers. They wear ‘gerua’ clothes and have no hair on their heads. I would say to the BJP, either wear white clothes or if you are a sanyasi or wear ‘gerua’ clothes, then get out of politics,” the Congress chief said.
“On the one hand, you wear ‘gerua’ clothes, and on the other hand, you say ‘batoge toh katogey’… They are spreading hatred among the people and trying to divide them,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
