- By PTI
- Sun, 05 Apr 2026 11:24 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
The BJP on Sunday alleged that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge insulted the people of Gujarat and other states in North India by calling them "illiterate" and accused the opposition party of indulging in divide-and-rule politics ahead of the assembly polls.
Addressing a rally in Idukki district ahead of the Kerala assembly elections, Kharge said people of the state are "educated and clever" and cannot be misled, unlike those in Gujarat and some other places.
"Don't misguide the people of Kerala. They are very clever, they are educated. Modi ji, Vijay (Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan), you both can fool those who are illiterate in Gujarat or other places, but you can't fool Kerala people," he said.
Hitting back at Kharge over his remarks, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asked the Congress president for his opinion about the "intelligence" of Mahatma Gandhi, Saradar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and all other prominent Congress leaders who hailed from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of north India.
"I would not like to ask about Rahul Gandhi because the entire country knows about him," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said, taking a dig at the Congress.
Trivedi said that people of Kerala are indeed wise and very educated, but neither the Congress nor the Left parties ever gave justice to them.
"It's true that people of Kerala are very wise and educated. It's because of their wisdom that the BJP won the civic polls in Thiruvananthapuram after 45 years of Left rule. People of Kerala are very wise. That's why 'love jihad' was first noticed in Kerala", he added.
Trivedi alleged that while people of Kerala are wise, leaders of the Congress and the Communist parties are "very dangerous".
"People of Kerala will give them a befitting reply in the upcoming elections", the BJP leader added.
Elections to 140 assembly seats in Kerala will be held on April 9. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Kharge has made "shocking comments" against people of Gujarat and North India.
"Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has once again made a shocking comment against the people of Gujarat and North India. This shows the divide-and-rule policy of the Congress. They have abused people of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and called them illiterate just because they don't vote for Congress. When Congress loses elections, it abuses the people," Poonawalla said in a video message on X.
"Shocking: Cong insults Gujarat and North India," he wrote on the microblogging site.
Poonwalla asked if Congress leaders in Gujarat and opposition leaders such as Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav endorsed such remarks.
"Does the Gujarat Congress agree with this? Do Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav agree with this? This is not the first time. Congress leaders like D K Suresh have called for a division between North and South India. They have abused North Indians and other people living in the North," he said.
Poonawalla alleged that the Congress and its allies have a history of making divisive statements. He cited past comments by opposition leaders, accusing them of attempting to create regional divisions.
"Their chief minister in Punjab had once referred to people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as 'bhaiya'. DMK leaders routinely insult people from North India. What is this mindset? It shows that the Congress party only wants to divide people. First, they divided on religious lines, then on language, and now based on states. They always try to divide India and abuse those who do not vote for them," Poonawalla said.
Another BJP national spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, criticised the Congress, reiterating that the party follows a "divide and rule" policy.
In a post on X, Bhandari said the Congress, founded by A O Hume, continues to practise divisive politics and likes to "pit one Indian against another".
"Congress, a party founded by Britisher A O Hume, practises 'divide and rule' just like the British did before Independence. No wonder the people of India have rejected this divisive Congress, which has ideological mentors like 'urban Naxals' and wants to pit one Indian against another. Congress is against India's unity," Bhandari's post read.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by The Daily Jagran. Credit: PTI)