Kharge made 'poisonous snake' barb at PM Modi to please his political masters: Dharmendra Pradhan

The BJP on Thursday targeted the Gandhi family after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge triggered a row by likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a poisonous snake, saying he must have done it to "please" his political masters.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP's in-charge for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, told PTI that the BJP never expected a senior and experienced leader like Kharge, who is the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, to make such "unparliamentary and undesirable" comments.

Pradhan noted that Modi has always given the Congress leader a lot of respect personally as well as publicly.

Also Read | My statement was not for PM Modi, but for ideology he represents: Kharge on 'poisonous snake' barb

"He must be under some compulsion. He gave such a statement to please his political masters," the minister said, claiming that this has been the Congress tradition for over two decades to target Modi personally with objectionable remarks.

Remarks like "maut ka saudagar" and "khoon ki dalali" have been used against Modi, he said, in obvious reference to former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

These are the people who go outside India and bat for China, he added.

Only recently some Congress members had chanted "Modi teri kabra khudegi" (Modi your grave will be dug) slogan, he said.

What Kharge has said is most disappointing and there should be no place for such comments in a democracy, Pradhan said.

Addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka, Kharge likened Modi to a poisonous snake. As a row erupted, he later sought to clarify that his remarks were not aimed at the prime minister but at the ruling BJP.