A fierce political row has broken out on the eve of the Kerala Assembly elections following comments made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during a campaign rally in Idukki. Addressing the crowd on Sunday, Kharge suggested that the electorate in Kerala is too "educated and clever" to be misled, contrasting them with voters in Gujarat and other regions whom he implied were more susceptible to being fooled.
Directing his barbs at both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kharge remarked, "Don't misguide the people of Kerala. Modi ji, Vijayan, you both can fool those who are illiterate in Gujarat or other places, but you cannot fool the people of Kerala." The comments immediately drew a sharp rebuke from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the Congress leader of elitism and regional bias.
Gujarat's Deputy Chief Minister, Harsh Sanghavi, led the counter-attack with a blistering post on X, formerly Twitter. He argued that Kharge’s remarks were a direct insult to the six crore citizens of Gujarat and the state's historical legacy of producing figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Sanghavi questioned whether the Congress party’s frequent targeting of the state stemmed from the bitterness of being repeatedly rejected by its voters, asserting that the public would "not forgive" this latest slight.
Adding to the backlash, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned Kharge’s logic regarding the "intelligence" of North Indian states. He pointed out that many of India’s most prominent leaders — including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi — represented constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and the north. Trivedi accused the Congress of attempting to stir up "divide-and-rule" sentiment just days before the April 9 polls, suggesting that Kerala’s voters would see through such tactics and deliver a fitting response at the ballot box.
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