Kharge's effigy burned in UP over remark on ex-PM Chandra Shekhar

Tue, 04 February 2025
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23:48
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Supporters of Chandra Shekhar in Ballia on Tuesday burned an effigy of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks on the late prime minister. 

The angry protesters, several of them Bharatiya Janata Party members, also demanded Kharge's dismissal from the Rajya Sabha. 

Chandra Shekhar, whose family also condemned Kharge's remark, was born in Ibrahimpatti village of Ballia district and represented the Ballia parliamentary seat eight times in the Lok Sabha. 

Originally a Congress leader, Chandra Shekhar became a prime minister in November 1990 from Janata Party with the support of Congress. 

His government fell soon after though. Kotwali Police Station SHO Yogendra Bahadur Singh told PTI that people angry with Kharge's remarks burned his effigy at TD College Chauraha of the district headquarters. 

During a discussion in Rajya Sabha on Monday, as Kharge was speaking, BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar intervened and made some remarks, to which the Leader of Opposition shot back, saying he was a "friend of his father," former prime minister Chandra Shekhar. 

He told Neeraj Shekhar to sit down, which led to an uproar from the treasury benches Chairman Dhankhar called Chandra Shekhar one of the tallest leaders of the country, and urged all sides to calm down, as he urged Kharge to withdraw his remarks. 

Kharge responded by saying he worked with Chandra Shekhar, and called him a comrade. 

"I don't insult anyone, I have worked with Chandra Shekhar ji..." Kharge said. His remarks, however, reverberated on a wrong note in his home district, where Chandra Shekhar's sympathisers accused Kharge of committing "an unpardonable crime" by using "indecent and unruly words about such a great personality." -- PTI
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