The Karnataka Congress poked fun at BJP officials for being seen behind barriers on Saturday as they welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bengaluru. The prime minister was at the area to speak with ISRO researchers on Chandrayaan-3’s successful soft landing on the south pole of the moon.
The Congress posted images of BJP officials, including state president Nalin Kumar Nateel, on X (previously Twitter) and claimed that the BJP high command was unconcerned with state leaders and that, as a result, it was unlikely that a new president would be chosen given that the current one was out on the streets.
Priyank Kharge, the state’s minister of rural development and panchayat raj, posted more of these images on X, claiming that although BJP leaders had done their best to demonstrate their leadership skills in order to be considered for the positions of leader of the opposition and new state president, the BJP’s high leadership was uninterested in them.
“The position of BJP leaders is comparable to that of movie enthusiasts who go up for the opening day and first performance to get attention. In a similar manner, the BJP leaders also made every effort to attract the PM’s attention to the posts of new state president and leader of the opposition. They too stood on the barrier. They did their utmost to demonstrate their leadership abilities, but the party high command was uninterested, according to Kharge on X.
The Karnataka BJP responded quickly and attacked the Congress. The saffron camp encouraged the Congress to “grow up” by reposting the images on X. It said that the prime minister was not in the city for a party gathering but rather to celebrate ISRO scientists.
A verbal spat over protocol broke out between the two sides hours before Modi’s visit to ISRO when the PMO insisted that only government employees—not chief minister Siddaramaiah—should attend his welcome.