NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha on Wednesday witnessed some lighter moments when Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said former PM H D Deve Gowda was “in love” with Congress but “got married” to BJP. Deve Gowda, however, hit back, saying he was in a “forced marriage” with the Congress party and had to “divorce” as it was an “abusive relationship”.Speaking during farewell to retiring members, leader of opposition Kharge said he has known Deve Gowda for 54 years. “He shared his love and affection with us but tied the knot with Mr Modi (BJP). This happened recently, so I do not know how you interpret it,” he said, when Deve Gowda was not in the House but PM Modi was present. Both Kharge and Deve Gowda are retiring and may return to Rajya Sabha.Deve Gowda responded in a statement on X. “Here’s my response, both light-hearted and factual, on why I was forced to ‘divorce’ Congress,” he said, tagging PMO.“My dear and long-time friend Mallikarjun Kharge made a light-hearted comment… If I respond in the same language, I was in a ‘forced marriage’ with Congress but had to ‘divorce’ them as it was an abusive relationship,” he said, referring to 2019 developments in Karnataka.
