Kharge denies calling PM Modi a terrorist, says "have already replied" to EC

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge. File Pic

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that the party has submitted its reply to the Election Commission's notice over his "terrorist" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

When asked about the development, Kharge told reporters in Bengaluru, "We have already replied; it has appeared in the newspaper."

This comes after Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and criticised the poll body for giving only 24 hours to Kharge to respond to the allegations. The party demanded a week to file a detailed response.

In a letter addressed to the ECI, Jairam Ramesh wrote, "We would like to express our surprise at the short amount of time given to the Congress President to reply to the charges levelled against him in the Notice, i.e. 24 hours. You would have been aware that this is certainly not sufficient time given that the Congress President is in the middle of multiple campaigns."

"We seek time to file a detailed response within one week and also for a senior delegation of Congress leaders to present the same," he stated in the letter.

The ECI on Wednesday issued a stern 24-hour ultimatum to Mallikarjun Kharge, demanding an explanation for his controversial remark directed at Prime Minister Modi during the Tamil Nadu Assembly election campaign.

However, offering clarification, Kharge has maintained that he did not call the Prime Minister "a terrorist" but spoke about the victimisation of political opponents by the Modi government. Kharge alleged that the Prime Minister "is terrorising politicians" and "tax terrorism is happening".

The Congress chief told ANI on Tuesday, "I did not speak against the PM. PM is terrorising politicians, candidates and regarding this, I said that tax terrorism is happening, ED is conducting raids, Income Tax Dept is conducting raids, CBI is conducting raids. This terrorism is being facilitated by the PM. I did not call him a terrorist. He is scaring people. He is trying to silence people through raids and attempting to defeat them in elections. This is what I said in Chennai."

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