RAIPUR: Taking offense to the remarks made by Chhattisgarh BJP leader and spokesperson Shivratan Sharma against CM Bhupesh Baghel and Sonia Gandhi, the state committee of Congress has announced to boycott him in all upcoming TV debates and political discussions.
Sharma, while countering to Baghel’s recent statement on the party’s Amethi candidate Smriti Irani, said that the BJP would like to know that if overthrown as CM by a rival Congress group, from which shop would Baghel sell CDs of porn movies.
Sharma was indirectly referring to a case in 2017, when Baghel, the-then Congress state president, was allegedly implicated in the controversial sleazy CD case, which was being probed by the CBI in Raipur. The CD case purportedly featured a senior minister from the-then CM Raman Singh's cabinet. “Owing to the slanderous and derogatory statement by BJP leader Shivratan Sharma, the Congress has decided that none of our leaders will participate in any live TV debate or any political discourse with the BJP leader”, said Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, Chairman of the Congress media cell adding that the party is contemplating of lodging an FIR against Sharma.
Earlier, the state BJP had asked all news-channels and media houses to boycott Congress spokesperson Vikas Tiwari for reportedly using unacceptable language during a recent TV debate.
While BJP’s demand seem unusual, several such political controversies have come in various states in the the run up to the the general elections which began on April 11. UP CM Yogi Adityanath, BSP supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi party leader Azam Khan and the BJP’s candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya have all been censured by the Election Commission.