BJP makes sharp critique of Kharge's 'poison' remarks on PM Modi, says "not the first time"

New Delhi [India], May 25 : BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit out at the Congress party and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday after the latter's remarks drawing parallels between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and poison.
Poonawalla said that "this is not the first time," as he claimed that the Prime Minister has been showered with abuses "more than 125 times."
"On one hand, there is the mission and vision of PM Modi to make India the third largest economy. but the other side has no mission and no vision, only its own corruption, its own ambition, its own confusion and frustration. The kind of language used for Prime Minister Modiji in frustration, is this Mohabbat ka Dukan? This is Nafrat ka Saman," the BJP leader said on Saturday.

"And this is not for the first time, Modiji has been showered with abuses more than 125 times. Modi will die like Hitler, was compared to Aurangzeb, that he will die like Aurangzeb, abuses were targeted at his mother and father, insults over him being a chaiwale, insulted his family, insulted the OBC community, and now the way Kharge ji has said shows they are working on insulting the public who have voted him to power," he said.
"Some people of the Congress party said "lakadi aur dande se maarna hei Pradhan Mantri ko'. This shows that they are realising their defeat then these people question the institutions of the country or insult the army or call for violence against people who are on respectable positions and then say we are running Mohabbat ki Dukan. This is not Mohabbat ki Dukan, it is Nafrat ka Saman," Poonawalla said.
Earlier on Friday, while addressing a press conference in Karnataka's Kalaburagi on Friday, Kharge said, "Maa Ganga has called him (PM Modi). He is talking about 2047 plans... 2047 tak shaaswat bhi rahenge agar (if he stays alive till 2047). Sometimes he goes diving in sea, sometimes he takes dips in Ganga waters, sometimes he goes into caves, sometimes he meditates alone. I don't know, maybe he will get the fruits of all this 'tapasya'."
"I believe that if you work then you get to fill your stomach. If you do good work, then the results will be good. If you commit bad things, bad results will be there. If somebody does bad things and still gets good things, that's upto them. If I say this is poison and don't touch it, and if you still insist on licking it, then what will be the result? Modi is like that," he added.
Earlier in April last year, Kharge was caught in a similar row amid the high-decibel campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections. During a public rally in the state, the Congress chief likened PM Modi to a "poisonous snake", drawing sharp reaction from BJP.
Kharge later issued a clarificiation saying his remark wasn't directed at the Prime Minister but at the BJP and its "divisive" ideology.