The “chaddi” row in Karnataka continued to rage as Congress leader Priyank Kharge warned that all underwear the BJP sends to the Congress will be forwarded to PM Modi.
Karnataka Congress leader Priyank Kharge (File photo)
The chaddi row in Karnataka further escalated as Congress leader Priyank Kharge warned the BJP that all the underwear it sends to the Congress will be forwarded straight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ruling BJP undertook a “chaddi” collection drive and sent the knickers to the Karnataka Congress office in Bengaluru as a mark of protest against Opposition leader Siddaramaiah’s remarks about the RSS uniform of khaki shorts.
Condemning the saffron party for its “chaddi” campaign, Priyank Kharge said, “NSUI members burnt RSS Chaddis, don’t know why BJP got angry over this. That’s why BJP is collecting all used chaddis and sending those chaddis to KPCC office. I want to tell BJP members: send as many chaddis you can, all chaddis are being sent to Narendra Modi by the KPCC. Your chaddis will be given back to you.”
READ | Karnataka ‘chaddi’ row: People of India have removed Congress’s knickers, says BJP MP
The genesis of the chaddi row was due to the raging controversy over the alleged “saffronisation” of school textbooks in Karnataka. Objections were raised from several quarters after the government-appointed textbook review committee replaced a chapter on Bhagat Singh with an essay on a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
Facing backlash, the BJP government disbanded the review committee but protests raged on. In one such incident, members of Congress party’s student wing burnt shorts outside the Karnataka education minister’s home. Siddaramaiah approved of the move and slammed the RSS, at which the right-wing outfit retaliated by sending chaddis to the Congress headquarters in symbolic protest.
Against this backdrop, Karnataka MLA Priyank Kharge said the Congress does not have a problem if the BJP publishes an official textbook on the RSS, but asserted that the contents should be based on facts only.
“Why national flag was not hoisted in RSS office for 52 years? What opinion did Hedgewar have over national flag? Why did RSS kill Mahatma Gandhi? Who gave the title Veer to Savarkar? All these questions must be answered in the RSS textbook,” he said.