‘Be quiet or I will give an hour-long speech’: Mallikarjun Kharge warns Ramlil Maidan crowd

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge dealt with the Ramlila Maidan rally crowd quite sternly. As they repeated a line regarding PM Narendra Modi, which the Congress chief had said around a week ago, he told them that he would keep his speech short only if they settled down.

Initially as he took the dais to speak, Kharge stood silently for around 30 seconds. This even as slogans and chants were being raised by the rally crowd and a musical instrument was being played. Clearly, the senior leader was not very impressed by the high decibel levels at the rally.

Speaking in Hindi, he said, “Dekho, aap agar chup baithenge, main paanch minute mein apna bhashan khatm kar raha hun. Agar chup nahin baithenge, main ek ghanta bhashan karunga”, which when translated reads, “If you stay quiet, I’ll finish my speech in five minutes; if you do not stay quiet, I’ll speak for an hour.”

Most of the slogans being raised by the crowd, slammed Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. His resignation was also the major agenda of the rally.

But a small group yelled, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega.” These were the exact same words that Kharge had used while speaking at a function in Patna, and stirred a political controversy.

To counter Kharge’s remark, the BJP came up with a counter slogan, “Modi kahi nahi jayega.”

Speaking at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, Kharge echoed similar sentiments, regarding the PM. But he omitted the controversial bit. He said, “Modi jayega, tabhi loktantra bachega”, which translates to, “Modi will go, and democracy will thus survive.”

The Patna incident

While speaking at a function in Patna, Kharge was heard shouting, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega”, after being heckled by an audience member. The audience member had reportedly said “Modi kahi nahi jayega.”

To this Kharge had retorted, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega”. He had reportedly repeated the words at least thrice.

Now the man, who had said the words in the first place, during Kharge’s function claims that he was not heard in full. He was identified as Santosh Kumar. He claimed that what he was saying was, “Unless the public revolts, Modi will not go.” He was however caught and beaten up by the other attendees at the function and thrown out of the hall.

Following Kharge’s remarks, the BJP demanded an apology. They also announced nationwide protests. The Congress however, defended its chief. Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said Kharge was only using an idiom and said that PM Modi had made much worse comments in the past.