2 min readBengaluruJun 21, 2026 07:49 PM IST
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday schooled party workers in Karnataka who chanted “DK, DK” at an event held to mark the transfer of the party’s state chief’s role from Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to B K Hariprasad.
The slogans rose after Kharge referred to the transition of power in which Shivakumar replaced Siddaramaiah as the chief minister and gave up the state Congress president’s post.
“Sit quietly,” shouted Kharge, even as the AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Shivakumar waved at his supporters to stop sloganeering.
Kharge, who described the sloganeering Congress workers as “useless fellows”, said, “This is a meeting of the Congress party. It is not a meeting about one person…. One group says something, another group chants something else. Why have the others come? To sweep the floors here?”
The Congress chief went on to add that discipline was required in the party.
“Personality cult will not work here,” he said, arguing that it was the party that made the leaders and not the other way around. “The Congress has produced many leaders. Even if their contribution to the party is less, the Congress has given them more power.”
‘Looting in the name of Ram’
Earlier in his address, Kharge attacked the BJP over allegations that donations made to the Ram temple at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, were siphoned off. He alleged that around Rs 5,000 crore was stolen from the funds collected by the temple. “They are looting in the name of Ram. Did you construct Ram Mandir to loot crores of rupees?” he asked.
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Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the programmes leading to the temple’s construction and inauguration, the Congress chief said that Modi was everywhere then.
“Now, the money is being robbed from the donation box. Whether his (Modi’s) followers are doing it or someone else is behind it should be investigated,” Kharge said.
