oppn parties Kharge Criticized For His 'Dog' Comment

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  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Kharge Criticized For His 'Dog' Comment

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-12-21 09:03:36

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Congress president Mallikarajun Kharge is in the news once again for the wrong reasons. Close on the heels of comparing Prime Minister Modi to a 100-headed Ravan during a campaign speech in Gujarat, Kharge once again lost the sense of using correct words when he asked whether the BJP had sacrificed even a 'dog' in the Independence struggle. As president of the second biggest national political party in India and one which aspires to get back to power soon, Kharge must recognize that he must set an example. But his choice of words will give rise to situations where other Congress leaders will go further, as one in MP has already done by calling for Congressmen to be ready to 'kill' Modi.

The Congress can argue that the BJP introduced personal attacks and rude vocabulary in public discourse in India but the fact is that the Congress has not been far behind and has responded in kind whenever the opportunity arose. When both sides start playing the same tune, obviously the dance becomes monotonous, and in this case despicable. In any case, there is no point in playing the blame game. Since the Congress has always prided itself in being liberal and the upholder of decency in public, instead of paying back the BJP in the same coin it can stick to what it used to be best known for.

By visiting temples and trying to win Hindu votes and using the same language used by the BJP, the Congress is becoming the mirror image of the party it loves to hate. In trying to appeal to the BJP's Hindutva vote bank, the Congress is losing its own vote bank. That is why it is not being successful. The earlier the party realizes this, the better for it. Otherwise, despite the Bharat Jodo yatra and the statement by Rahul Gandhi that "nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukan khol raha hun" (I am opening a shop for love in the market of hate), the party will not be able to recover lost ground.