Bengaluru: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s seeming rebuke to a farmer who came to him to complain about crop losses has drawn sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents.
In a viral video, Kharge is seen seated with one of his aides when a farmer approaches and mentions his grievance. When the farmer says that he has suffered losses in the four acres that he has sown due to flooding in the region, Kharge retorts that he himself has borne crop losses in 40 acres and his condition was far worse. “Don’t come here for publicity,” Kharge is heard purportedly telling the farmer.
He then goes on to use a Kannada phrase, which effectively means that a person who has lost three cattle shares their suffering with another who has lost six.
Kharge says that the farmer should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the crop losses.
Like several other states, Karnataka has faced intense rains over the last few weeks. It recorded 810.2 mm of cumulative rainfall between 1 June and 7 September as against the normal rainfall of 707, registering a 15 percent increase, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Northern Karnataka, which includes Kalaburagi in the north-eastern part of the state, recorded 518.3 mm of actual rainfall as against a normal of 367.5 mm, registering a 41 percent increase.
Union minister H.D.Kumaraswamy Monday lashed out at the national Congress president over his “arrogance” and insensitivity towards farmers.
In a long post on social media platform ‘X’, he said that this kind of behaviour does not suit a leader of Kharge’s stature.
“That display of arrogance towards a farmer who came only to express his grief was unnecessary. You too may be a toor dal farmer, but how can there be any comparison between a person like you cultivating 40 acres and a poor farmer cultivating just one or two acres? You have the capacity to bear the loss. Shouldn’t the farmer be given that same strength?” the Janata Dal (Secular) leader said in a post on ‘X’.
Kumaraswamy said Kharge insulted the farmer which was “unacceptable”. “Your conduct is proof of the traditional arrogance and ego of the Congress party.”
Karnataka BJP chief B.Y.Vijayendra also hit out at Kharge, stating that the incident reflects the Congress president’s “intolerance and dismissive attitude” towards the farming community.
“Since independence, @INCIndia has never worked to uplift farmers from dire circumstances; the Congress has shed more crocodile tears for poor farmers than taken action. Yesterday’s conduct by Kharge serves as evidence of this….,” he said.
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi, said: “What sort of arrogance is this? Kharge sahab, he (the farmer) came to you with his pain because your party rules Karnataka…So, if a farmer comes to you, is that a time to show off? Or for publicity? So kindly refrain from making remarks such as ‘We stand with the farmer’ or ‘How Rahul Gandhi stands with the farmers’.”
Prasad then trained his guns at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi: “In fact, I will ask my secretary to release all of Rahul’s big and empty promises. Anyway, where is he nowadays? It would’ve been nice if he had visited Karnataka or Punjab, where the farmers are in trouble and drowning. But wherever Rahul Gandhi is vacationing, good for him. What can I say? When one is a casual politician, these things happen…”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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