On Sunday, 30th April 2023, PM Narendra Modi responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s personal attacks on him. PM Modi said that a snake is the charm around Lord Shiva’s neck and that since the nation’s citizens are like Lord Shiva, he accepts being a snake who stays with them. Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had called PM Modi a “poisonous snake” in an election rally at Kalaburagi on Thursday.
In a rally in Kolar, Narendra Modi said, “They compared me to a poisonous snake and appealed to the people to vote for them. But, a snake adorns Lord Shankar’s neck. For me, the people of the country are a form of the deity. Therefore, for this God manifested as the people, I will happily be a snake and be with them. I know, this is a land of saints and culture. People of this land will give a befitting reply to the abuse by Congress through their votes and crush their ill ambitions.”
VIDEO | "Snake is the charm of Lord Shiva's neck. For me, people of the country are like Lord Shiva," says PM Modi slamming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 'snake' remarks. #KarnatakaAssemblyElections2023 pic.twitter.com/Fr6mZ1AdFR
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 30, 2023
PM Narendra Modi further said, “Congress is an ‘outdated engine’. Development was halted due to them. Congress has a bundle of fake guarantees. They don’t fulfill any promise made to the public. ‘Unfulfilled guarantees’ are their record. They betrayed the public, but BJP fulfilled all the guarantees by doing several development works.”
On 27th April 2023, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “PM Modi is like a ‘poisonous snake’, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead.” Mallikarjun Kharge also enacted licking during his speech while making this statement.
#KarnatakaAssemblyElections2023 | PM Modi is like a 'poisonous snake', you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead…: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Kalaburagi pic.twitter.com/Bqi7zVFnO9
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2023
This is not the first time that the Congress president took a jibe at PM Modi during an election rally. During the run-up to the Gujarat assembly election of 2022, he compared PM Modi with the demon king Raavan. On 29th November 2022, Mallikarjun Kharge remarked at a public event in Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that Modi has 100 heads since he is present in every election.
The Karnataka state Assembly election polling would be held on 10th May 2023. The results of the election will be declared on 13th May 2023. The 224-member assembly of the Karnataka state will complete its fifteenth term on 24th May 2023. At present, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a total of 119 seats, while the Congress has a total of 75 and its ally JD(S) has a total of 28 seats.
