Maharashtra Assembly elections: State Congress chief Patole kicks up row with dog jibe at BJP

Congress leader Nana Patole. File
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has courted a controversy after he asked OBC voters in Akola district if they would vote for the BJP who calls them “kutta” (dog).

Mr. Patole, while addressing a public meeting in Akola for Congress’s candidate from the Akola West constituency on Monday (November 11), alleged that the BJP has become so arrogant that it calls the Other Backward Class community dog.

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“I want to ask the people belonging to the OBC in Akola district, will you vote for the BJP who calls you kutta (dog)? Now the time has come to make the BJP ‘kutta‘ (dog),” he said.

Hitting back at Mr. Patole, the BJP said his remarks reflected the frustration of the Congress.

The State Congress chief asserted that BJP is working to break the country’s unity by showing fear.

He claimed there was a wave of change in Maharashtra, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would lose the election this time.

Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya said such statements show the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s declining state.

“They are going from disappointment to dejection. Sharad Pawar is saying something, Uddhav Thackeray is verbally abusing the Election Commission, and now Congress is calling the BJP a ‘kutta‘ because opinion polls show that Mahayuti is going to win the elections,” Mr. Somaiya said.

The battle is getting fiercer between the Mahayuti and MVA in the run-up to the November 20 State Assembly election. Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant had to eat his words and apologise after he used a derogatory remark against Shiv Sena candidate Shaina NC.