Obliquely responding to the alleged death threat issued by Manikanth Rathod, a history-sheeter contesting the Assembly Elections from Chittapur constituency in Kalaburagi district as BJP candidate against his son and Congress candidate Priyank Kharge, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that he was already living the “bonus period” and he would not hesitate to speak the truth just because of a threat to his life.
“What is the average life expectancy in India? It is around 70 years. I am 81 years old now. I am already in the bonus period. If everything goes well, I may live another eight or nine years. If you [BJP] think your problems will be solved by eliminating me, just kill me. I am ready for it. But, don’t think that you will get rid of questions. If I am not there, somebody else will be there to question your misdeeds. I am not afraid of your death threats. I won’t stop speaking the truth and exposing your misdeeds. I would continue to do my duty no matter who would do what to silence me,” Mr. Kharge said at a public meeting in Kalaburagi on Monday.
He was speaking at an election rally to seek votes for Allamprabhu Patil, the Congress candidate for Kalaburagi South constituency. Mr. Kharge also doubted the involvement of BJP’s top brass in the conspiracy to kill him and his family members.
“Without the active support or backing of top leaders in the BJP, this kind of death threat cannot be issued against me. He [Mr. Manikanth Rathod] says that he would finish off me and my family. You [BJP] must know that my entire family was finished off [during the onslaught of Razakars soon after Independence] I was the only one who survived. I am still alive. They [BJP] think that I can be easily eliminated physically. It is not possible. As long as the people of Kalaburagi, Kalyana Karnataka, Karnataka and, now India, after I became the AICC president, are with me, it is not easy for them to get rid of me. It is not easy for them to eliminate me as long as the Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution is with me,” Mr. Kharge said.
Criticising BJP for neglecting the Kalyana Karnataka region, Mr. Kharge expressed his readiness for an open debate on the contributions of BJP and Congress for the development of the region.
Congress gurantees
Referring to the guarantees of Congress if voted to power in the State, Mr. Kharge said that it was his responsibility that the promises were fulfilled.
