Varanasi: Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers burnt the effigies of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge at the district headquarters on Monday over Kharge’s alleged derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s father.Party leaders accused the Congress of crossing political limits and demanded a public apology. They said criticism of govt policies is democratic, but personal insults cannot be justified. They warned that protests would continue from the streets to Parliament if Congress failed to maintain dignity in public discourse and debate.Apart from UP ministers and BJP MLAs, the activists associated with party’s youth, women and Scheduled Caste wings joined the demonstration.Kharge’s outburst invoking Modi’s father raised a furore in BJP on Sunday, with the party announcing a nationwide protest on Monday against Kharge’s “indecent and offensive” remarks.Addressing a gathering at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna, Kharge was interrupted by a young member of the audience who shouted “Modi nahin jayega (Modi will not go)”. The Congress chief shot back, saying, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega (Modi’s father, too, will have to go)”. The youth was removed from the venue by the organisers of the function.
