BJP workers were seen gathering a cardboard box full of underwear and sending it to the Karnataka Congress office.
What if you were told that two political parties in India have been clashing over Chaddis (underwears)? One would not believe. Well, Chaddis happen to be the new flashpoint between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
It all began when the Congress’ students’ wing NSUI (National Students Union of India) protested last week outside the Home of Education Minister BC Nagesh against “saffronisation” of school textbooks. During this protest, the NSUI workers were seen burning a pair of khaki knickers – the kind associated with the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In response, the saffron party complained to the police that the NSUI activists were trying to burn the minister’s house down. Congress decided to up the ante by launching “burn-the-chaddi” campaign.
Former CM Siddaramaiah, talking about the incident, said: “During a protest, we symbolically burnt one underwear – just one underwear. But the police and government made it a big issue and said we are trying to burn the house… So let’s start a chaddi-burning campaign.”
Today, the Congress workers protested at various places in Chitradurga and Chickmangaluru by burning underwears.
The BJP launched a counter-campaign to send underwear to Congress leaders. The saffron party workers are now going on a house-to-house collection drive for “chaddis” to send them to Congress leaders’ homes.
A video on social media reportedly from Mandya showed the BJP workers gathering a cardboard box full of underwear and sending it to the Karnataka Congress office.
The GOP, however, claimed that none of their leaders have yet received any package.
Congress leaders were burning underwear as they had “lost” their chaddi, Union minister Pralhad Joshi was quoted as saying, in an apparent reference to the grand old party’s poor performance in elections.
“Siddaramaiah and the Congress’s chaddi is loose already. They have torn chaddi. So, they are burning chaddis. Their chaddi was lost in Uttar Pradesh. Siddaramaiah lost his chaddi and lungi in Chamundeshwari. To hit back, he’s trying to burn Sangh’s (RSS) chaddi,” Prahlad Joshi said.
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