Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Thursday mocked the health condition of Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, saying he contracted swine flu since his party made an alleged bid to destabilise the Congress-JDS government in Karnataka.
The remark by Hariprasad, a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress general secretary, sparked an angry reaction from the BJP with the party's Karnataka unit calling him a 'rogue' and described his remarks as 'shameless' that showed his party's 'culture' and his 'mental stability'.
The BJP also requested Congress president Rahul Gandhi to admit Hariprasad to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru for treatment.
"As a few legislators have already come back, Amit Shah is shaken and has got fever. It is not a normal fever. It is swine flu," Hariprasad said in remarks made in Kannada in Bengaluru.
"You should know that if you try to destabilise the Karnataka government, not just swine flu, you will get vomiting and dysentery also," he added.
Shah was on Wednesday admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi for swine flu treatment.
'I have been diagnosed with swine flu for which the treatment is underway.
'With God's grace and good wishes from all of you, I will recover soon,' Shah had tweeted in Hindi.
According to BJP's media head Anil Baluni, Shah is doing well and will be discharged in a day or two.
Hariprasad made the remarks at a party protest against the alleged attempt by the BJP to dislodge the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government in Karnataka by allegedly luring the ruling coalition MLAs.
'Congress MP & AICC General Secretary BK Hariprasad mocking at health condition of Sri @AmitShah ji shows his mental stability,' the Karnataka BJP said in a tweet.
'This rogue needs to learn human values & is unfit to live in a civilised society. We request @RahulGandhi to admit him to NIMHANS to get some treatment,' it added.
BJP state general secretary and MLA Arvind Limbavali blamed the Congress and its 'culture' for Hariprasad's comments.
'Congress & it's culture. This Congress MP definitely needs some education & before that he needs to learn some human values. Most importantly he needs to get his mental stability checked. Anyway I hope BK Hariprasad recovers from his mental illness & start behaving civilized,' Limbavali said in a tweet.
Another BJP leader and Member of Parliament from Bengaluru North P C Mohan tweeted, 'Senior Congressman BK Hariprasad's comments about Shri Amit Shah health condition are uncivilised, shameless and a reflection of disturbed state of mind. Get well soon, Hariprasad.'
The Congress on Wednesday claimed that the operation by the BJP was a 'flop', as as few MLAs who had allegedly gone incommunicado and were in Mumbai had showed up with its leaders.
Both the Congress-JD(S) combine and the BJP have been trading charges of horse trading against each other, ever since the political drama unfolded on Monday.
