Kharge chides farmer hit by flood, BJP says conduct 'arrogant'

NEW DELHI: BJP and its allies on Monday lashed out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a viral video purportedly showing his interaction with a distressed farmer in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, calling his conduct "arrogant" and unbecoming of a senior neta.

BJP also criticised Rahul Gandhi over his reported trip abroad, describing him as "a casual politician" and saying it would have been good had the Congress neta visited flood-hit Karnataka and Punjab where farmers are in distress.

The clip from Kalaburagi, which has circulated widely on social media, captures Kharge's conversation with a farmer whose crop was damaged by the recent floods in the region. Slamming Kharge for allegedly chiding a farmer for telling him that he had lost the crop on his four-acre farm in Kalaburagi in Congress-governed Karnataka due to heavy rains, BJP functionary Ravi Shankar Prasad asked, "What kind of arrogance is this?"

Kharge told the farmer from his traditional political turf that he himself had suffered damages at his 40-acre farm.

Prasad also reminded Gandhi that there is no break in public life. "Best wishes to Rahul Gandhi when he is on vacation. When someone is a casual politician, it is bound to happen - 'Now I have worked a lot. Let me take a break'. Let me gently remind Rahul Gandhi that there is no break in public life," Prasad said.

Meanwhile, JDS functionary and Union minister H D Kumaraswamy reacted sharply on X, saying, "Respected Mallikarjun Kharge, I was deeply disappointed by your behaviour towards the farmers. From a senior functionary, I certainly did not expect such conduct. If a farmer in distress cannot approach you and share his pain, then who else should he turn to? You are LoP in Rajya Sabha and the President of the AICC. Yet, you completely forgot these responsibilities while speaking!"