Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 12: A huge controversy has broken out over a senior Congress leader allegedly advising people to be prepared to “kill” the prime minister Narendra Modi to “save” the constitution and the future of the poor and backward classes and to solve the unemployment problem.
After a video showing Raja Pateria addressing his supporters with the advice to “kill” Modi became viral, the MP government ordered registering an FIR and a battery of BJP leaders condemned the Congress calling the party leader’s statement an “unpardonable crime.”
The accused leader’s reported explanation that he was a Gandhian and never supported violence and that he meant to advice the people to “kill” Modi by “defeating” the BJP in the elections, failed to cut ice with the BJP leaders who stayed focussed in condemning Pateria and holding his alleged “kill” to be the “real face of the Congress and its leaders.”
In his viral remarks that surfaced on Monday, Pateria tells what appears to be a gathering of party workers: “Modi will end elections, Modi will divide on the basis of religion, caste, language; the lives of Dalits, tribals, and minorities are in danger. If the constitution is to be saved, then be ready to kill Modi.”
Later in the same video, the Congress leader claims the word “murder” in his speech means defeat. He said he follows Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence, and that he meant it was necessary to defeat PM Modi electorally to protect minorities. The video has emerged from Pawai town in Panna district.
Pateria also issued a video statement clarifying he meant to “defeat” PM Modi in the elections but his remarks were wrongly presented. “A video related to a mandal meeting yesterday at Pawai has surfaced. I am a follower of Mahatma Gandhi who can’t talk about killing anyone. It was wrongly presented. I wanted to say defeat Modi to protect the Constitution, dalits, tribals and minorities and also to remove unemployment,” he said.
But his explanation in the speech was ignored and the viral video only records his advising people to “kill” Modi following which the Congress is facing a huge backlash, in the middle of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, with several BJP leaders calling for Mr Pateria’s arrest.
The Madhya Pradesh government has ordered a police case against Mr Pateria, a former state minister. A union minister has called it an “unpardonable crime”. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has targeted Rahul Gandhi, saying in a video: “The real face of those pretending to do a Bharat Jodo Yatra is coming out.”
Chief Minister Chouhan said the comments exposed the Congress’s “real sentiment”. “The respected PM Modi lives in the hearts of the people, he is the centre of the admiration and faith of the entire country. Congress people can’t face the PM in the electoral battle, and one Congress leader talks about his murder. This is the height of jealousy. This is excess hatred. Congress’s real sentiments have been revealed, but such things won’t be tolerated. An FIR is being registered, and the law will take its course,” he said.
Home Minister Narottam Mishra has ordered a First Information Report. “Such statements show that today’s Congress is not Mahatma Gandhi’s Congress. It’s the Congress of Italy that is afflicted with a Mussolini mindset,” he said. Union minister Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi called Raja Pateria’s remark against the Prime Minister “an unpardonable crime”. “Even if Raja Patria declares himself mentally unsound, he should not get away with this crime. I request the government of Madhya Pradesh that immediate and strict action should be taken against Raja Pateria,” he said in a video appeal.
The issue was brought to light by the state BJP chief V.D. Sharma who shared the video clip Pateria’s video and demanded an inquiry wondering if there was a plot to assassinate the prime minister. “Former Minister Raja Pateria’s incitement of public and Congress workers to assassinate Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi is extremely serious and condemnable. Was there any preparation for this conspiracy in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Todo Yatra from Madhya Pradesh recently? This should be investigated,” Sharma tweeted in Hindi.
