Barely a week after an FIR was lodged against him over his controversial comments over Coronavirus and asking his party workers to set the country on fire over farmer protests, Congress senior leader Kamal Nath has stirred fresh controversy on Friday as he termed India “badnam, not maha” (infamous, not great).
Kamal Nath’s made the controversial remark while addressing the media during a religious visit to Maihar town of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. He was speaking about Covid handling in India when he said: “Mera Bharat mahan nahi hai, badnam hai (My country is not great but infamous). The whole world is looking at the worst condition of Covid-19 in India. Indians, who are working in the US are facing discrimination. A person told me that the people in New York are afraid of sitting in taxis driven by Indians.”
Nath, the Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, also attacked the BJP government led by Shivraj Sigh Chouhan for allegedly covering up Covid-19 deaths in the state.
Reacting to Kamal Nath’s remarks, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “Madhya Pradesh’s Congress chief is calling India badnam. Is Congress shameless? After taking birth on this land, you are calling India badnam. Does this not amount to being a traitor, or is this the ideology of Congress?”
Furthering that Kamal Nath has lost his mental balance after losing his government, the Madhya Pradesh CM asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to clarify whether the party is in conjunction with Kamal Nath. He said that Sonia Gandhi should either accept that she agrees with Kamal Nath or sack the MP Congress chief.
Prior to this, the Congress senior leader had made a similar disparaging comment absolving China for giving coronavirus to the world and implicating India for the raging pandemic. In a video that surfaced, Kamal Nath was heard saying: “Today, the world calls it Indian corona”.
Interestingly, Kamal Nath’s remarks jibe exactly with the instructions laid down in the toolkit that was exposed on May 18. The Congress toolkit that was exposed on social media opened a Pandora’s Box as it brought to fore the party’s malicious attempts to tarnish the image of India, central government, and PM Modi. Congress, however, later claimed the toolkit is fake and threatened legal action.