Bengaluru: Scoffing at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ‘clerk’ jibe, senior Congress leaders, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister G. Parameshwar on Saturday said their party need not learn from a leader known for ill-treating coalition partners.
Speaking to reporters separately, Mr Kharge said: “Let Mr Modi learn to treat his partners well instead of talking about others. He has been ill-treating them and even during cabinet meetings he does not treat them well. So, he should focus more on protecting his own backyard first." Coming down heavily on Mr Modi's remark on ‘Mahaghatbandhan’ Mr Kharge reminded him that the National Democratic Front, which he is heading is a Ghatbandan itself, so he should learn to mind his language. He must learn to respect his position first and his partners too,” he added.
While reacting sharply on BJP state leaders remarks on instability of the coalition government, Mr Kharge wondered how many times these state leaders could set the deadline for collapse of the coalition government? "None of the state BJP leaders’ threats come close. It looks like they just make these kind of statements just to remain in public space. These leaders are not capable of pulling down this government," he asserted.
Meanwhile, Mr Siddaramaiah charged that Mr Modi was trying to fish in troubled water. "Who is Mr Modi to talk about internal affairs of coalition partners? Who is he? He should refrain from talking about us and our internal matters. He has lot many work to do, let him focus on work. We (Congress and JDS) are capable of looking after ourselves," he retorted.
Training his guns on Mr Modi, deputy chief minister, Dr G. Parameshwara said such remarks against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy mirror the culture of BJP leaders.
“Mr Modi and BJP president, Amit Shah, are known to make such remarks. This only shows their and their party's culture. After electoral losses in the Hindi heartland, they seem to be very disturbed. May be, they are fearing their loss in 2019," he added.
He emphasised that both Mr Modi and Mr Kumaraswamy are constitutionally appointed heads of respective jobs, and in a federal system, both must respect each other. "This is a classic case where Mr Modi has scant respect for leaders in states," he said in response to a question.
