The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to Karnataka Congress leader Priyank Kharge, the son of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, over his 'nalayak (inept)' remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PTI reported. BJP leader BP Yatnal was also issued a notice by the poll watchdog for his "vishkanya" remark against former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The notice to Priyank comes a day after a BJP delegation, led by Union minister Piyush Goyal, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission over his remark.
Priyank, who is seeking reelection from Chittapur in Kalaburagi district, said PM Modi, while claiming to be the son of the Banjara community, was "inept" in taking care of them because BJP created confusion about reservations for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
Congress, however, said he never made such comments and urged the media "not put these words into his mouth".
Addressing a poll gathering in Kalaburagi, Priyank quoted from Modi's speech and said, "When you (PM Modi) came to Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) what did you tell the people of Banjara community? 'Aap sab log dariye mat. Banjara ka ek beta Dilli mein baitha hai (You do not be afraid. A son of Banjara is sitting in Delhi)'."
"Aisa nalayak beta baitha to kaise hota bhai? Ghar kaise chalega?" (If an inept son is sitting in Delhi, how can you run the family?), Priyank further said.
The Congress leader made the remarks while referring to a bill passed by the BJP government to increase the reservation for the Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and provide for internal quota for SC communities.
The legislation invited the ire of the Banjara community, who feared that their share in the quota pie would get reduced due to internal reservation.
Priyank's remark came days after Mallikarjun Kharge's "venomous snake" barb aimed at PM Modi. However, amid severe criticism from BJP, Kharge expressed regret while saying his remarks were not for PM Modi and he meant BJP's ideology was "like a snake".
After Kharge's remark, senior BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal called former Congress president Sonia Gandhi a "vishkanya" and an "agent of Pakistan and China".
"If Kharge compares Modi to a venomous snake, is their leader Sonia Gandhi a vishkanya? Sonia Gandhi is an agent of China and Pakistan," Yatnal had said.
READ | 'Plummeting Level Of Campaign Discourse': EC Asks Parties To Exercise Restraint In Karnataka
Amid several instances of name calling and abuses by rival parties in the past week, the EC asked political parties in Karnataka to "exercise caution and restraint in their utterances" while taking "serious" note of "plummeting level of campaign discourse".
In an advisory to political parties and their star campaigners, the poll watchdog asked them not to vitiate the election atmosphere.
In a statement, the EC referred to instances of "inappropriate vocabulary and language" used during the ongoing campaign by persons, "in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of star campaigner".
"Such instances have occasioned various complaints, cross complaints and have also attracted negative media attention," the EC said.