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Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MH)

Mangaluru, Jul 10: Congress leaders from Dakshina Kannada district held a protest in front of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), on Wednesday, July 10, in response to BJP MLA Dr Bharath Shetty's slap remark on Rahul Gandhi.

During the protest, Congress leaders blocked the road, leading to a physical confrontation between the protestors and the police. Several protestors were detained by the police as they tried to maintain order.

Addressing the gathering, Congress MLC Ivan D'Souza said, "Bharath Shetty compared Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, to a dog, but Bharath does not have the respect or intelligence of a dog. I listened to Rahul Gandhi's speech five times, where he explained how the BJP is destroying society by using Hindus to divide people for political gain. Even Hindu priests defended Rahul Gandhi and said he did not insult the Hindu religion. Hindus have learned that they are being used for political gain to break society, and they taught them a lesson in the last election. The Bharath Rice programme was stopped within three months, and they do not have the courage to address this problem. When he insulted Rahul Gandhi with his slap remark, he insulted the 140 crore Indians and our parliament. Rahul Gandhi is the ray of hope for India. Even Amit Shah and Modi could not respond to Rahul Gandhi when he spoke in front of them."

M G Hegde, also speaking at the protest, criticized the BJP, saying, "The Karnataka government has filed an FIR against them, and we welcome it. They should now answer to the law. I have said this before and I will say this 100 times: Hindutva is not the BJP's property. There are Hindus in other parties too. We do not want your version of Hindutva. Bharath Shetty said someone should slap Rahul Gandhi. Why does not he do it himself? Does he lack the courage? Health ministers are visiting various areas to help dengue-affected people, but Bharath Shetty and Vedavyas Kamath are not addressing the dengue and traffic issues of Mangaluru. There are many important issues, like the NEET paper leak, newly built railway stations leaking, airports and bridges collapsing, but the BJP is misleading the people by talking about Hindutva to distract them from serious issues."

Harish Kumar, district Congress president, added, "Bharath Shetty has insulted the medical community with his remark. He should resign and stop his medical practice. Slapping Rahul Gandhi is the same as slapping your children. I dare him to confront a single member of our party first. He is misleading the Hindu youth of this country. They did not complete the Ram Mandir construction but still went ahead with the consecration ceremony. This is an insult to Hindus, and the people of Ayodhya have taught them a lesson."

Prakash Salian, Shalet Pinto, Sohan Alva, Salim, and various other party members were present at the protest.