<p>The BJP on Thursday targeted the Gandhi family after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge triggered a row by likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a poisonous snake, saying he must have done it to "please" his political masters.</p>.<p>Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP's in-charge for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, told PTI that the BJP never expected a senior and experienced leader like Kharge, who is the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, to make such "unparliamentary and undesirable" comments.</p>.<p>Pradhan noted that Modi has always given the Congress leader a lot of respect personally as well as publicly.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/my-statement-was-not-for-pm-modi-but-for-ideology-he-represents-kharge-on-poisonous-snake-barb-1213491.html" target="_blank">My statement was not for PM Modi, but for ideology he represents: Kharge on 'poisonous snake' barb</a></strong></p>.<p>"He must be under some compulsion. He gave such a statement to please his political masters," the minister said, claiming that this has been the Congress tradition for over two decades to target Modi personally with objectionable remarks.</p>.<p>Remarks like "maut ka saudagar" and "khoon ki dalali" have been used against Modi, he said, in obvious reference to former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.</p>.<p>These are the people who go outside India and bat for China, he added.</p>.<p>Only recently some Congress members had chanted "Modi teri kabra khudegi" (Modi your grave will be dug) slogan, he said.</p>.<p>What Kharge has said is most disappointing and there should be no place for such comments in a democracy, Pradhan said.</p>.<p>Addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka, Kharge likened Modi to a poisonous snake. As a row erupted, he later sought to clarify that his remarks were not aimed at the prime minister but at the ruling BJP.</p>
<p>The BJP on Thursday targeted the Gandhi family after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge triggered a row by likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a poisonous snake, saying he must have done it to "please" his political masters.</p>.<p>Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP's in-charge for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, told PTI that the BJP never expected a senior and experienced leader like Kharge, who is the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, to make such "unparliamentary and undesirable" comments.</p>.<p>Pradhan noted that Modi has always given the Congress leader a lot of respect personally as well as publicly.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/my-statement-was-not-for-pm-modi-but-for-ideology-he-represents-kharge-on-poisonous-snake-barb-1213491.html" target="_blank">My statement was not for PM Modi, but for ideology he represents: Kharge on 'poisonous snake' barb</a></strong></p>.<p>"He must be under some compulsion. He gave such a statement to please his political masters," the minister said, claiming that this has been the Congress tradition for over two decades to target Modi personally with objectionable remarks.</p>.<p>Remarks like "maut ka saudagar" and "khoon ki dalali" have been used against Modi, he said, in obvious reference to former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.</p>.<p>These are the people who go outside India and bat for China, he added.</p>.<p>Only recently some Congress members had chanted "Modi teri kabra khudegi" (Modi your grave will be dug) slogan, he said.</p>.<p>What Kharge has said is most disappointing and there should be no place for such comments in a democracy, Pradhan said.</p>.<p>Addressing a campaign rally in Karnataka, Kharge likened Modi to a poisonous snake. As a row erupted, he later sought to clarify that his remarks were not aimed at the prime minister but at the ruling BJP.</p>