BJP leader B P Yatnal gets EC notice over 'vishkanya' remark against Sonia Gandhi

The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal for his 'vishkanya' remark against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

The notice issued by Koppal District Election Officer in Karnataka said prima facie he has violated provisions of the model code. The BJP's star campaigner has been asked to respond to the notice by Thursday evening

BJP MLA Yatnal likened Gandhi to a 'vishakanya' (venomous) in retaliation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "venomous snake" barb hurled at Prime Minister Modi, with the comments drawing sharp response from the opposition party which sought the legislator's expulsion.

"The entire world appreciates Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The US had not given him visa once upon a time, but today he has emerged as a world leader who receives a red carpet welcome and rubs shoulders with world leaders," Yatnal said at a public meeting on Thursday.

"He (Modi) is compared with a cobra and is called venomous. Is Sonia Gandhi, whom you go dancing about in your party, a vishakanya? Sonia Gandhi who ruined the country and works as an agent of China and Pakistan," Yatnal, who is seeking re-election in the May 10 Karnataka elections from Vijayapura, charged.

The 'vishkanya' remark against Gandhi by Yatnal came a day after Kharge compared Modi with a poisonous snake.

(with PTI inputs)