Ahmedabad, April 7 (IANS) A silent protest was held in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Tuesday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s city unit intensified its response to remarks made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, marking the latest development in an escalating political row.

The protest took place at the Income Tax crossroad, where a large number of party workers and leaders gathered wearing black ribbons on their hands.

Away from conventional demonstrations, participants observed silence and refrained from raising slogans, signalling what party leaders described as a serious and restrained form of protest.

Among those present were local MLAs Amit Shah, Dinesh Kushwaha, Amit Thakkar, and Amul Bhatt, along with office-bearers and party workers.

The protest follows remarks made by Kharge during an election rally in Kerala, where he said that voters in the state are “educated and clever”.

“Don’t misguide the people of Kerala. They are very clever, they are educated. Modi ji, Vijay (Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan), you both can fool those who are illiterate in Gujarat or other places, but you can’t fool Kerala people,” he had said.

The comments drew sharp criticism from BJP leaders in Gujarat, who described them as insulting to the people of the state and demanded an apology.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel termed the remarks “extremely objectionable and unfortunate”, stating that they insulted crores of Gujaratis and hurt the state’s dignity.

Addressing the media during the protest, Ahmedabad City BJP president Prerak Shah said, “Congress’s mindset has been against Gujarat and Gujaratis for so long. Whenever they were in power, Congress and its leaders have always been against the state and its people. During an election rally, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge spoke against the state and the people, and people are furious over his statement.”

He added, “In the past, Congress has been against the Sardar Sarovar Dam. They supported Medha Patkar, who was against the dam. The then Chief Minister Narendra Modi did a 72-hour fast for this. When the UPA government was in power, fewer allocations were given to the state in the Budget.”

Shah further said, “The people of Gujarat are against these kinds of statements. In the coming local body and other elections, people will answer them strongly.”

BJP leaders at the protest maintained that the remarks amounted to an insult to the entire state and indicated that the issue would be raised further in the run-up to forthcoming local body elections.

–IANS

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