Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde, whose comments have often triggered controversies, on Wednesday called Congress president Rahul Gandhi a "hybrid breed", saying how can son of a "Muslim" father and Christian mother be a Brahmin.
Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde, whose comments have often triggered controversies, on Wednesday called Congress president Rahul Gandhi a "hybrid breed", saying how can son of a "Muslim" father and Christian mother be a Brahmin.
He also hit out at Gandhi for his repeated allegations targeting the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal.
Addressing an event in Uttara Kannada district, Hegde said: "...they have no sense about religion. See how much they lie, father is a Muslim, mother a Christian, son is Brahmin. How did it come?" "You cannot get such hybrid breed in any laboratory in the world, it is available in our country's Congress laboratory only," he said, attacking Gandhi.
A priest at the Pushkar lake in Rajasthan, who presided over the puja offered by Gandhi during the poll campaign there, had said that the Congress president's gotra was 'Duttatreya' and he was a Kashmiri Brahmin.
Hegde's comments come days after he said at an event at Madikeri that a hand that touches a Hindu girl's body should not be there.
On Monday, Hegde referred to Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao as "a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady" after he criticised the BJP leader's remarks.
Gandhi had criticised Hegde's comments and said, "This man is an embarrassment to every Indian. He's unfit to be a Union minister and deserves to be sacked." Attacking the Congress chief over Rafale Wednesday, Hegde said there was a "limit to lying".
"Rahul Gandhi these day is uttering Rafale, Rafale... he doesn't know how many letters are there, he doesn't know the spelling. He thinks Rafale is a three wheeled cycle....," he alleged.
The Union minister also levelled corruption charges against Karnataka Revenue Minister and district in-charge of Uttara Kannada R V Deshpande, calling him "percentage Pande".
1. On Parrikar visit
)
Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his comments about Manohar Parrikar saying he had a ‘serious disorder’.
He said: “Classic case of serious disorder in this guy named @RahulGandhi, who. Citing corruption hits our PM attributing derrogatory names & hugs him in #Parliament. Turns courtesy visit to @manoharparrikar-ji's home, enquiring his health into a political visit. Do we call imbecile!”
2. Had referred to comments in public domain: Rahul Gandhi
)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said he empathises with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for being "forced" to accuse him of doing petty politics over a courtesy visit and asserted he never shared any details of their meeting.
Replying to Parrikar, hours after the former defence minister wrote to him, Gandhi said in his two speeches since their meeting in Panaji, he had only referred to what is already in the public domain on the Rafale deal and what the chief minister had said earlier.
The ailing Goa chief minister Wednesday accused the Congress chief of using his courtesy visit to him for "petty political gains", asserting that there was no mention of the Rafale issue in their five-minute meeting.
3. Understand your immense pressure Rahul Gandhi
)
Several BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, also attacked Gandhi.
Gandhi said he was forced to write back to Parrikar to clarify his position on the issue as the chief minister's letter to him has created an "unfortunate and unnecessary controversy".
"Parrikar Ji, I empathise with your situation. I understand the immense pressure you are under after our meeting yesterday. Pressure that has forced you to take the highly unusual step of demonstrating your loyalty to the PM and his cronies by attacking me in this uncharacteristic manner," Gandhi said in his letter, which he also posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Wishing the Goa chief minister a speedy recovery once again, the Congress chief said he is "disturbed" to hear about a letter which Parrikar has supposedly written to him, "but instead leaked to the press before I have had a chance to read it".
"I have not shared any details of my conversation with you when we met in Goa yesterday. In my two speeches since we met, I have referred to what is already in the public domain," Gandhi claimed.
4. Parrikar slams Rahul Gandhi
)
In his letter, Parrikar asked Gandhi not to use his visit to an ailing person to "feed political opportunism", saying that paying a courtesy visit and then stooping so low to make a false statement for petty political gains has raised in his mind questions about sincerity and purpose of the visit.
He said he felt let down that Gandhi used this visit for his petty political gains as the five minutes they spent together, neither did the Congress president say anything about Rafale nor did they discuss anything related to it.
"Here I am fighting against a life-threatening illness. Due to my training and ideological strength, I wish to serve Goa and its people against any/all odds. I thought your visit would give me your good wishes in that cause of serving our people. Little did I know that you had other intentions," Parrikar wrote.
5. People of India disgusted with your behaviour: Amit Shah
)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi saying that he has shown his “insensitivity” by “lying” in the name of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment. “Dear Rahul Gandhi, you showed how insensitive you are, by lying in the name of a person fighting a disease. The people of India are disgusted by your reckless behaviour. In his trademark style, @manoharparrikar ji sets the record straight,” the BJP president tweeted quoting Parrikar's letter to Gandhi.
