NEW DELHI: Recalling Congress chief
Rahul Gandhi's old remark comparing "power to poison", BJP's
Sambit Patra on Sunday said that he hopes his party is not responsible for "forcing Kumaraswamy (Karnataka CM) to consume the poison of power".
"Hope Rahul Gandhi doesn’t tweet that there is “भय का महोल” under BJP rule and we are forcing Mr Kumarswami to swallow the “Poison” of power. I don’t understand why these politicians are forced to consume poison of power...remember one night Sonia ji too in tears said Power is Poison!" Patra tweeted.
Yesterday, a teary-eyed
Karnataka chief minister, who had come to power earlier this year following a bitter power struggle between the BJP, JD(S) and its ally the Congress, had said that he is not happy with heading the coalition government which lacks the mandate of the people.
"...you all are happy, but I'm not. I know the pain of coalition government. I became Vishkanth and swallowed pain of this government," said an emotional Kumaraswamy who heads the coalition government in Karnataka in alliance with the Congress party.
Following Kumaraswamy's comment, Patra took a dig at the Congress party and asked if it is "the fear of Modi government" which is forcing the opposition leaders to "drink the poison of power". The BJP spokesperson further cited a 2013 remark of the then vice president of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, where he had recalled how his mother,
Sonia Gandhi, had termed power as poison.
In 2013, following his appointment as the vice president of the Congress party, Rahul had recalled an incident with his mother. "My mother came to my room and cried... because she understands that power is poison," Rahul had said as he addressed his party workers.
Patra's criticism came after Kumaraswamy broke down yesterday at an event in Bengaluru as he expressed his unhappiness over heading the coalition government. "If I wish, within two hours I can step down from the office," he said.
Kumaraswamy's JD(S) with 36 seats had forged an alliance with the Congress party which had secured 79 seats in the assembly elections to form a government in Karnataka. BJP, with 104 seats, had emerged as the single-largest party. After days of an intense and a bitter power struggle, both the JD(S) and the Congress were successful in forming a government in the state.
