In another controversial statement, Raju Kage, the Congress MLA from Belgaum, questioned during an election campaign on Tuesday whether anyone else in India would be suitable to become Prime Minister if Narendra Modi were to pass away. He asked if there was no other candidate among the 140 crore population to become Prime Minister. Dissuading the youth from being influenced by PM Modi’s speeches, Kage warned that if there were problems in the state, Modi would not come, asserting that the Congress was there to listen to their problems.
During the same speech, Kage questioned the rationale behind voting for PM Modi in Karnataka, highlighting that Modi is not contesting from Karnataka but rather from Varanasi. He further criticized Modi’s extravagant lifestyle, mentioning his expensive aircraft and clothes valued at Rs 4 lakh each. Kage implied that if ordinary people were to receive such a large sum, they would abandon their families and opt for a life of renunciation.
Kage delivered these surprising comments during his campaign for Priyanka Jarikholi, the Congress MP candidate for the Chikodi constituency, in Mamadapura village of Belgaum.
This statement follows another contentious incident involving Kage, where he was recorded warning voters that if Congress receives fewer votes in the upcoming elections, electricity supply would be disrupted. Kage made these comments during a separate rally held in Jugul village of Belgaum district, while campaigning for Jarikholi.
Kage cautioned that in the event of Congress facing a risk of defeat in the forthcoming Assembly elections next year, the Karnataka government would enforce increased instances of power outages.
This isn’t the initial instance where Kage has faced criticism for his controversial statements. In the past year, he faced backlash for his sexist comments when he expressed discomfort about nurses referring to him as grandfather during his liver transplant surgery. Following the widespread criticism of his remarks, Kage clarified that his comments were not intended to offend or disrespect anyone. He explained that he made those remarks to convey his sentiment of feeling saddened by the aging process.
