BJP leader files complaint with ECI against minister Priyank Kharge over social media post

BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge for his social media post alleging that the Congress leader has used derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

In a post on X, Priyank Kharge questioned the timing of the action taken by the Central agencies and said, “The IT/ED raids and arrests of opposition leaders are nothing but BJP’s standard operating procedures to distract the public from real issues. What were the enforcement agencies doing for so long, awaiting orders from Chor Guru and Chandal Shishya?”

The IT/ED raids and arrests of opposition leaders are nothing but BJP’s standard operating procedures to distract the public from real issues.

What were the enforcement agencies doing so long, awaiting orders from Chor Guru and Chandal Shishya?

Chronology samajhiye!…

— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) March 21, 2024

Responding to these remarks, BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said that the words “Chandal Shishya” are unconstitutional. “Priyank Kharge called Prime Minister and Home Minister Chandal Shishya. This is a proverb in Kannada. This is unconstitutional. You cannot abuse the Prime Minister in such a manner. Such terms come under the SC/ST Act. We have filed a complaint with the Election Commission”, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said.

Meanwhile, BJP Yuva Morcha workers held a protest near the residence of Minister Priyank Kharge in Sadashivanagar regarding his post. Later, police arrived at the spot and detained the workers.

On Thursday night, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested after skipping nine summons issued against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Delhi High Court refused to grant him relief from any coercive action by the probe agency.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.

Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest came days after the ED arrested K Kavitha, Bharat Rashta Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped excise policy.

Earlier, Manish Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI)