1 week Ago By TOI News Desk
NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge 's son, Priyank Kharge hit out at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for raking up his father's personal history and a recent remark about the 1948 Razakar attack in which Kharge Senior's mother and sister were killed. In a sharp reply, Priyank acknowledged the family history and said that despite the tragedy, his father "never exploited it for political gain, never played the victim card and never let hatred define him". In a recent election rally, Yogi Adityanath had referenced the 1948 incident from Congress chief's childhood, when Razakars , the Nizam's paramilitary force in Hyderabad state, had set fire that took the lives of his mother and sister.
The BJP leader claimed that the Congress chief had kept mum on the incident for votebank politics. In a long post on X, Priyank Kharge wrote, "Yes, Yogi Adityanath ji, in 1948, the Razakars burned down Sri Mallikarjun Kharge ji’s house, taking the lives of his mother and sister. Though he narrowly escaped, he survived and rose to become a 9 time MLA, twice Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MP, central minister, the Leader of the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and an elected Congress President.
" "Despite the tragedy, he never exploited it for political gain, never played the victim card and never let hatred define him. It was the Razakars who committed this act—not the entire Muslim community. Every community has bad apples and individuals who do wrong," he wrote.
"So, tell me CM saab, your ideology fails to see Kharge Ji as an equal, it discriminates between human beings, does that make all of you bad or those who are practicing it? Who labeled him as an “untouchable” or a Dalit? The existence of a discriminatory ideology does not make everyone within a community wrong. Does it? At 82, Kharge Ji is fighting tirelessly to uphold the values of Buddha-Basavanna-Ambedkar and to protect the Constitution from the tyranny and hatred you seek to instill and he will continue this fight with unwavering conviction," the Congress leader wrote. "So, Yogi Ji, take your hate elsewhere.
You cannot bulldoze his principles or his ideology. Try winning the elections on PM Narenda Modi ji’s “achievements” instead trying to sow seeds of hatred in the society for political gains," the X post read. Earlier in a rally in Maharashtra's Amravati on November 12, Yogi Adityanath had accused Mallikarjun Kharge of suppressing these painful personal memories for political expediency.
"(Mallikarjun) Kharge's village, Varawatti, was also burned down by Razakars, and his mother, aunt, and sister died in the attacks," the Uttar Pradesh CM had claimed. He had alleged that Kharge was suppressing this truth fearing he might lose Muslim votes if he spoke about atrocities committed by the Nizam's forces. "Congress is trying to reject history and Kharge has conveniently forgotten what happened to his family, just for vote bank politics," he claimed.
The Razakars was a paramilitary force that operated in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad with a primary objective to maintain the rule of the Muslim Nizams of Hyderabad and prevent the accession of Hyderabad to India..
