Congress condemns Sanjay Nirupam's 'dog' remarks; says party has regard for enemies unlike PM Modi

Hitting out at Sanjay Nirupam's dog remark, the Congress said that it would not endorse such statements.

Speaking to the media, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Congress doesn't agree with any such statement. #Karnataka Governor, murdered democracy, however, any statement made on him personally won't be accepted. Rahul Gandhi & Congress have regard for their worst enemies unlike PM Modi," he said.

Earlier, Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam has said that people will name dogs after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. 

Shortly after Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa resigned, many Congress leaders raised demand that Karnataka Governor Vala should quit. Vala invited controversy by calling Yeddyurappa to form government despite JD(S)-Congress alliance having greater number of seats. He gave Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority, which was subsequently strike down Supreme Court. In another controversial move, the governor invited KG Bopaiah as the pro-tem speaker breaking the age-old convention of appointing the most experienced MLA as the pro-tem. All these lead to Vajubhai Vala being targetted by the opposition. 

However, Nirupam made a condemnable statement while criticising Karnataka Governor. He said. " 

Iss desh main wafadari ka naya kirtimaan sthaapit kiya hai Vajubhai Vala (#Karnataka Governor) ji ne, ab shayad Hindustan ka har aadmi apne kutte ka naam Vajubhai Vala hi rakhega kyunki isse zyada wafaadaar toh koi ho hi nahi sakta: Sanjay Nirupam, Congress pic.twitter.com/NadpOlluZ9

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018

 Nirpuram said in this counrty Vajubhai Vala has established a new record of being faithful. Congress leader further said," Now, probably in India every Indian will name their dog Vajubhai Vala as no one can be more faithful than him". 

#WATCH Derogatory statement by Congress' Sanjay Nirupam, says, 'Iss desh mein wafadari ka naya kirtimaan sthaapit kiya hai Vajubhai Vala (#Karnataka Guv) ji ne, ab shayad India ka har aadmi apne kutte ka naam Vajubhai Vala hi rakhega kyunki isse zyada wafaadaar koi ho nahi sakta' pic.twitter.com/P0EtWWo58i

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018

Now 80, Vala was appointed as the Governor of Karnataka in August 2014, a few months after Narendra Modi stormed to power in New Delhi. He was serving as Gujarat Assembly speaker since January 2013 before he was sent to the southern state.

Vala represented the state assembly for seven consecutive terms from 1985 to 2014, when he was appointed the governor. While he was known for his sense of humour and witty jibes, he was also seen as an able but strict administrator. He had presented the state's budget 18 times, a record of sorts for all states.Vala, who has earned a reputation of a crisis manager in the Gujarat unit of the BJP, was made state party chief after the rebellion by Shankarsinh Vaghela in the mid-90s that resulted in the fall of Keshubhai Patel government.

He was the number two under Modi from 2002 to 2012 as finance minister of the state. Earlier under Keshubhai Patel too, he enjoyed a similar position.Vala started his political innings with the RSS from his home town of Rajkot. He then joined Jan Sangh and had also gone to jail during Emergency.When he was Mayor of Rajkot City in 1980s, the area faced acute water shortage due to deficient rains.

He had made arrangements for bringing water by train for the city's residents, which was perhaps for the first time that a train was used for transportation of water in the country. He instantly became famous as "paniwala mayor". Vala became one of the prominent faces of BJP as it emerged as a potent political force. Modi was made chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 replacing Keshubhai Patel. As he was not a MLA at that time he had to win an election in six months when the state was grappling with the effects of a powerful earthquake in Kutch.

In his search for a safe seat, Modi had zeroed in on Paldi constituency in Ahmedabad, but the sitting MLA Haren Pandya refused to vacate the seat.

With agency inputs