Congress targets BJP, demands expulsion of Basangouda Yatnal for calling Sonia Gandhi 'vishkanya'
New Delhi, Apr 28: The Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP over its leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal calling Sonia Gandhi a "vishkanya", demanded his expulsion from the party and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved of such name-calling.
The party also asked Prime minister Modi to apologise to Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka and its leaders have lost their mental balance as well as political propriety, asserting that Yatnal's remarks are the "worst kind" of abuse against Gandhi at the "instance of Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai".
"Facing a complete rout in the assembly elections, the BJP leadership is frustrated to the core and is hurling filth and muck, which is the product of their ugly character and dirty mindset of denigrating and insulting the Congress leadership. They have lost all sense of propriety, political balance and even a remote iota of decency and decorum," he said in a statement.
"Instructed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and supported by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP leader and Modi Ji's personal favourite Basangouda Patil Yatnal has stooped to the lowest by calling UPA chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi 'vishakanya' and 'agent of China and Pakistan'," Surjewala said.
BJP MLA Yatnal likened Gandhi to a "vishakanya" (venomous) in retaliation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "venomous snake" barb hurled at Prime Minister Modi, with the comments drawing sharp response from the opposition party which sought the legislator's expulsion.
"The entire world appreciates Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The US had not given him visa once upon a time, but today he has emerged as a world leader who receives a red carpet welcome and rubs shoulders with world leaders," Yatnal said at a public meeting on Thursday.
"He (Modi) is compared with a cobra and is called venomous. Is Sonia Gandhi, whom you go dancing about in your party, a vishakanya? Sonia Gandhi who ruined the country and works as an agent of China and Pakistan," Yatnal, who is seeking re-election in the May 10 Karnataka elections from Vijayapura, charged.
The "vishkanya" remark against Gandhi by Yatnal came a day after Kharge compared Modi with a poisonous snake.
Campaigning in Karnataka for the assembly polls is in full swing and the Congress seeks to wrest power from the BJP in the state. Karnataka is the only southern state where the BJP is in power.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal tweeted, "Every election, they hurl new abuses to insult Sonia Gandhi ji, who has led her entire life with utmost dignity and grace. BJP continues to stoop to new lows, with their filthy language against our leaders. Modi ji, do you endorse these words?"
"Yadha raja thada Praja (as is the king so are the subjects)," he said.
AICC general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Desperation and despair has made the BJP stoop to name-calling. Their star campaigner Mr Basangouda Patil Yatnal has called former Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi vishakanya' and agent of China and Pakistan'."
"Does the PM approve? He should immediately expel Mr Yatnal and apologise to Mrs. Gandhi," Ramesh said on Twitter.
Surjewala said, "The BJP leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have made a profession of abusing the Nehru Gandhi Family. PM Modi himself has, in the past, called Sonia Gandhi as 'Congress Ki Vidhwa' and even used filthy language like calling her 'jersey cow'."
Such language hurled at Sonia Gandhi reflects the "absolutely debased and undignified character" of the BJP and its leadership, the AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka said.
The Congress leader claimed that the sad part is that all of this has the "tacit approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, J P Nadda and Basavaraj Bommai".
ALSO READ: Bar Mallikarjun Kharge from campaign, register FIR: BJP to EC on 'poisonous snake' barb
"If Prime Minister has even an iota of decency or dignity, he should immediately expel Basangouda Patil Yatnal from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Otherwise, it will be proved that the debased, ugly and deranged remarks being made by Yatnal against Sonia Gandhi are at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai," he said.
"We also demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should tender an unconditional public apology to Sonia Gandhi as also to the Congress leadership," the Congress leader said.
ಹತಾಶೆಯಾದ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಅವಹೇಳನೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಸ್ಟಾರ್ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕರಾದ ಬಸನಗೌಡ ಪಾಟೀಲ್ ಯತ್ನಾಳವರು ಮಾಜಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷೆ ಸೋನಿಯಾ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರನ್ನು 'ವಿಶ ಕನ್ಯ' ಮತ್ತು 'ಚೀನಾ-ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನದ ಏಜೆಂಟ್' ಎಂದು ಕರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 28, 2023
ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ಮೋದಿ ಈ ಹೇಳಿಕಗೆ ಒಪ್ಪುತ್ತಾರಾ? ಅವರು ತಕ್ಷಣ ಯತ್ನಾಳವರನ್ನು ಹೊರಹಾಕಿ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ಕ್ಷಮೆ ಕೇಳಬೇಕು
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Extensions in service setback to those who are in line: Vice President Dhankhar
Bengaluru, Jan 11: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday that extensions in service, in any form for a particular post is a setback to those who are in line.
Dhankhar was delivering the inaugural address at the 25th National Conference of Chairpersons of State Public Service Commission being held in Bengaluru.
According to him, extension of service indicates that some individuals are indispensable.
"Indispensability is a myth. Talent abounds in this country. No one is indispensable. And therefore, it lies in the domain of public service commissions at the state and the central level that when they have a role in such kinds of situations, they must be firm," added the VP.
He also said public service commissions' appointments cannot be driven by patronage, or by favouritism.
"We cannot have a public service commission Chairman or a member, wedded to a particular ideology or an individual. That will be undoing the essence and spirit of the framework of the constitution," said Dhankhar.
The Vice-President also frowned upon post-retirement recruitment and said it is antithetical to what was visualised by framers of the Constitution.
"In some states, it has been structured. Employees never retire, particularly those in the premium services. They get a number of ad-hoc nomenclatures. This is not good. Everyone in the country must have due and that due is defined by law," said the VP.
The VP also said fairness of selection has no meaning if paper leakages occur.
"Paper leakage has become an industry, a form of commerce. This is a menace that must be curbed," he added.
He commended the initiative the government has taken in this regard, with the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024.
The Vice President is also of the view that although it is "India's century", without a "calm political atmosphere" India will not really gain.
A vitiated political climate is far more dangerous than the climate change we are facing, he pointed out.
"Our polity at the moment is too divisive, too polarised. Interaction is not taking place at the premium level in political organisations."
The solution, according to him, is harmony in polity.
"Harmony is imperative. If there is no harmony in polity, if the polity is polarized, deeply divisive, with no communication channels functioning, imagine you are in an earthquake, you are lost and you have no connection with the outside world, things will be terrible for you," he added.
He also said for India to stand strong, we need strong institutions.
"Any institution, if it is weakened, the damage is to the entire nation. Weakening of an institution is like a prick on the body. The entire body will be in pain," said Dhankhar.
To build strong institutions, he added, states and Union governments must work in tandem.
"They must be in synergetic mode. They must be in sync with one another when it comes to national interest," said the VP.
Noting that discussion is deeply rooted in our civilizational ethos, the Vice President urged senior leadership for all political parties, irrespective of their ideologies, to "enhance dialogue, believe in consensus and always be ready for deliberation".
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was also present on the occasion, said Public Service Commissions are pillars of democracy, upholding meritocracy and fairness, and contributing immensely to governance.
"Karnataka has a rich history in public administration, starting with the Mysore Civil Services (MCS) examination initiated by Dewan Sir K Seshadri Iyer in 1892. This pioneering step set the foundation for a cadre of distinguished administrators, a legacy Karnataka continues to uphold with pride," he added.
He said tackling challenges such as paper leaks remains a top priority for Karnataka today. He also said learning from the best practices of other states and leveraging advanced technologies like artificial intelligence will make recruitment more transparent and corruption-free.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot; Chairman of UPSC Preeti Sudan and Chairman of Karnataka Public Service Commission Shivashankarappa S Sahukar were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.
