‘Ready to kill Modi...’: The row over Congress leader Raja Pateria’s remark

Senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Raja Pateria has stirred up a massive controversy after a video went viral on social media where he was heard saying the masses should be ready for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s murder in order to save the Constitution. ‘Be ready to kill Modi’ In the alleged video, the senior Congress leader Raja Pateria can be seen speaking to a small group of people from Pawai town in the Panna district.The viral video shows him saying, “Modi will end elections. He will divide people in the name of religion, caste and language. The lives of minorities, Dalits, and tribals are in danger. If the Constitution is to be saved, then be ready for Modi’s ‘hatya’.”Later in the same video, Pateria goes on to clarify that the word ‘hatya’ in his term means ‘defeat’. He added that he follows Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence and that what he meant was to defeat Prime Minister Modi electorally to protect minorities. He said, “Hatya in the sense of defeating him.”In an interview with India Today, Pateria clarified that “it might have happened in the flow.” He claimed that the person who recorded the video “just picked it out of context.”All about Congress leader Raja PateriaRaja Pateria is a former MLA, who won the Hatta Assembly constituency in 1998. He served as a Cabinet minister from 1998 to 2003 in the Digvijya Singh-led administration.Pateria contested the Lok Sabha polls from MP’s Khajuraho seat in 2014. However, he received 2,27,476 votes and was defeated by BJP’s Narendra Singh. Currently, he is the vice-president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress committee.According to his election affidavit, Pateria’s profession is agriculture. It further stated that he had assets worth over Rs 5 crore and his educational qualifications were stated as being a BSc second-year student from Jabalpur's Mahakosal Science College.BJP leaders call for Raja Pateria’s arrestThe grand-old party, undoubtedly, is receiving massive backlash for Pateria’s ‘hatya’ remark, with several BJP leaders calling for his arrest. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slammed the Congress leader for his remarks and termed it as “an unpardonable crime.”According to NDTV, in a video appeal, Joshi said, “Even if Raja Pateria declares himself mentally unsound, he should not get away with this crime. I request the government of Madhya Pradesh to take immediate and strict action against him.”BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted, “Congress leader and former minister Raja Pateria incites people to kill PM Modi. Earlier too, Congress leaders spoke about death of PM Modi (Sheikh Hussain). But now a death threat! After ‘Aukat dikha denge’, ‘Raavan’, this is Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Pyaar ki Rajniti?’ Will they act on him? No!”Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while targeting Rahul Gandhi, said, “The real face of those pretending to do a Bharat Jodo Yatra is coming out.”He termed the comments as “excess hatred” and said that the video exposes the Congress’s “real sentiment.” In a video, he said that the respected PM Modi lives in the hearts of the people and is the centre of the admiration and faith of the entire country.“Congress people cannot face the prime minister in the electoral battle, and one party leader talks about his murder. This is the height of jealousy and excess hatred. Congress’s real sentiment have been revealed, however, such things won’t be tolerated. A (First Hand Information) FIR is being registered, and the law will take its course,” Chouhan said.FIR being registeredHome Minister Narottam Mishra has reportedly ordered an FIR against Raja Pateria at Panna police station. He said that the comment proves that the “present Congress belongs to Italy and its ideology is of Mussolini and not to Mahatma Gandhi.”A report by India Today quoted Mishra as saying, “Such statements show that today's Congress is not Mahatma Gandhi's Congress. It's the Congress of Italy that is afflicted with a Mussolini mindset.”With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.