Kharge later told reporters he only said the BJP was like a snake, and that party's ideology is like a poison.
Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a poisonous snake, drawing the BJP's ire. Addressing a public meeting at Ron in Gadag district, as part of the party's campaign for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, he said: "don't make a mistake. Modi is like a poisonous snake. If you say, 'no, it's not poisonous. let's lick it and find out.' Don't go to lick it. If you lick, you die.”
Kharge further added, "(if you think that) No, no, this is not a poison because Modi has given it, 'good man' Prime Minister has given it, let's try it and lick it'. If you lick that poison then you will sleep forever”.
BJP IT department chief Amit Malviya, who also shared the video where Kharge made those comments, on Twitter, said: "Now Congress President Kharge calls Prime Minister Modi ‘poisonous snake’… What started with Sonia Gandhi’s ‘maut ka saudagar’, and we know how it ended, the Congress continues to plummet to new depths. The desperation shows Congress is losing ground in Karnataka and knows it".
Kharge later told reporters he only said the BJP was like a snake, and that party's ideology is like a poison. "If you support that ideology and lick (try) it, death is certain." "I did not speak against him (Modi) because I have already said that I never make personal comments," he said.