New Delhi: Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar who had apologised for his uncivil tweet on Tuesday has again hit back on BJP reminding them to reciprocate the action.
He had attributed the tweeted to a ‘novice social media manger’. In the tweet he said, “Yesterday (Tuesday) I said I believe we should be civil and respectful in politics, even to our opponents. I hope the BJP agrees with me, and will apologise for their state president’s abusive and unparliamentary remarks against Rahul Gandhi,” Shivakumar said Wednesday morning.
This comes a day after Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel attacked Mr Gandhi, calling him “a drug addict”, and claiming “it (proof of his allegations) has appeared in news reports”.
He also took a swipe at the Congress’ leadership issues – spotlighted this week during a meeting of the CWC, at which Mr Gandhi reportedly said he would consider returning as party boss.
“Your G-23 says Sonia Gandhi is not president. Sonia Gandhi says she is president. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi says he will become president. Tell me what is Rahul Gandhi? Rahul Gandhi is a drug addict and drug peddler… I’m not saying this, it has appeared in news reports,” Mr Kateel said.
“They are unable to run the party. Those who cannot run a party, how can they run this country?” he was quoted by news agency ANI.
Continuing to disregard the Congress’ apology for its tweet, he then slammed the party for “the lowest standard of politics”, while declaring “the people of India love Prime Minister Modi”.
“This is the lowest standard of politics. They have used derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister… Not only do the people of India love Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even the President of America also respects Narendra Modi,” he said.
The exchange of crude swipes about senior leaders was triggered by a tweet from the Congress’ Karnataka handle that referred to the Prime Minister as an “angootha-chhaap“, or illiterate person.
Responding to the criticism, Mr Shivakumar yesterday tweeted: “I have always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse.”
“An uncivil tweet made by a novice social media manager through the Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn,” he said.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
