New Delhi | Amid the raging row over Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's "Modi ka baap bhi jayega" remarks, party MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said there was no need to make a "big song and dance" about it as the veteran leader was just using a common expression and not insulting anybody's father.
Tharoor's remarks came a day after Kharge sparked a controversy with his remarks "Modi ka baap bhi jayega" in response to an audience member's comment that "the PM would not go anywhere" during an event in Bihar's Patna.
Asked about Kharge's remarks that have triggered a barrage of criticism from the BJP, Tharoor said, "I think people in our country have a habit of exaggerating the whole drama and all of this. Kharge sahab said something, the meaning is very clear of what Kharge sahab intended, and I don't think we should need to make a big song and dance about it." "He obviously was just using a common expression. He was not insulting anybody's father," Tharoor told reporters on the sidelines of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum here.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh decried Kharge's remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "extremely unfortunate" and said it reflects that the main opposition party has not just suffered a political downfall but an ideological downfall as well.
The incident took place while Kharge, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was speaking at a programme in Patna to celebrate the 139th birth anniversary of Bihar's first chief minister Shrikrishna Singh.
When asked about Kharge's remarks, Singh told reporters it is "extremely unfortunate". The Congress president's remarks have hurt the sentiments of crores of people in the country, he added.
Hitting out at Kharge for his "disparaging personal" remarks against Modi, the BJP on Sunday said the Congress chief is using language "associated with thugs and hooligans", reflecting the "ideological bankruptcy" of his party that appears more like a "mafia gang".
