‘If I meet him, I will hit him with my footwear’: Congress leader’s remarks sparks row

CHITRADURGA: A Congress leader made a controversial remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi indirectly over the Rs 100 cut in prices of LPG cylinders ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

Speaking at the inauguration of a community hall at Hiriyur on Sunday, Labour Welfare Board vice-president S Manjunath said, “He (referring to the PM in singular) cut the price of LPG cylinders by Rs 100 ahead of the election. If I meet him, I will hit him with my footwear. Why are you doing it (cutting price) now?”

Further, he said these actions should be questioned. “I am not raising this question as a Congressman, but it is my right to questinon as a citizen of this country. All of you should raise questions. We should learn to ask questions, otherwise neither Congress nor Janata Dal will listen to you. The BJP doesn’t anyway listen to you”, he told the audience.

“Till the time we don’t learn to raise questions, we will not be eligible citizens to cast our votes. I appeal to our people, in another 15-20 days, the election process will begin, people are already happy that the price of LPG cylinders will come down by Rs 100…”, he said. However, Manjunath did not take the PM’s name and indirectly abused him and criticised the move. A video of his speech has since gone viral.