Bengaluru: Ex-MLA Belur Gopalakrishna's remark on killing' Modi goes viral
Bengaluru: A video footage of Congress leader and former MLA, Belur Gopalakrishna, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be killed, went viral on Tuesday, a day before his visit to Karnataka, deeply embarrassing the Congress.
The controversial video was reportedly made on February 4 when Mr Gopalakrishna, who has a habit of making controversial remarks, was addressing a function organised by the Congress party in Shivamogga district. He is seen thundering, "Those who speak about Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, should not be in this country. If you have guts, you kill Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi)."
No sooner did the video go viral, then the BJP decided to lodge a criminal case against the Congress leader. Strongly condemning his comment, BJP MLC, Lehar Singh Siroya, shot off a letter to Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy urging him to hold a criminal investigation against Mr Gopalkrishna.
"Belur Gopalakrishna, a Congress leader in an official party function calls for assassination of democratically elected PM Sri @narendramodi ji. Instigating for assassination of PM of a country is a nation threat & we urge @HMOIndia, @CPBlr to impose legal action immediately," the BJP tweeted. The party also asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to take action against Gopalakrishna. "Well @RahulGandhi we remember you saying you don't endorse hate politics but now that your own party leader has openly called for assassination of a democratically elected PM of this nation would act on him. If you don't act it clearly means you endorse his words," the party tweeted.
The Congress, meanwhile, tried to distance itself from his statement with Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G. Parameshwara explaining that although the party had fundamental ideological differences with the Prime Minister, it would not tolerate such remarks.
When asked about it, Gopalakrishna defended his remarks. He said, "I never said I will kill Modi. These people insulted the father of the nation, shot at his effigy and said that if Gandhi was alive today they would have shot him dead. "I only asked them (extreme right wing outfits) if they have the guts to shoot the prime minister," said Gopalakrishna, who has been a party hopper.
Previously, he was in the BJP and jumped to the Congress after he was denied a ticket in the assembly election to contest from Sagar constituency last year. Before that he was in the JD(S).
