Inappropriate to celebrate birthday when Congress facing difficult time: Kharge

Even as former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is planning to have a big bash on his 75th birthday, his party colleague Mallikarjuna Kharge will not observe his own on July 21 because, according to him, it is not appropriate for a loyal Congress worker like him to have celebration when his leader is being “unduly harassed” by the BJP government.

“When Congress president Sonia Gandhi is facing a challenging time due to summons by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case, it would not be appropriate for me to celebrate birthday," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said on Tuesday.

“Entire Congress is passing through a difficult time. The ED summoned our leader Sonia Gandhi to appear before it on July 21. Is it the time to celebrate my birthday," Kharge questioned.

The Congress leader was reacting to reporters' questions when asked about some of his followers planning to celebrate his birthday on July 21, when he turned 81.

“Incidentally my birthday falls on July 21, the day when Sonia appears before the ED. I have already appealed to my well wishers not to celebrate my birthday and not to come to Delhi for that purpose. This is not the time to celebrate a birthday. Our priority should be giving moral support to Sonia Gandhi,” he said.

However, Kharge refused to comment on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's birthday celebration planned on August 3 at Davangere.

When asked for reaction to Congress state unit president D K Shivakumar's latest statement that Vokkaliga leader should be next Chief Minister in Karnataka, Kharge said, “Out priority should be to bring the Congress to power. Once the party comes to power, then we will decide who should be the CM.”