Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a case with the Election Commission Monday, seeking exemplary punitive action against the Congress and its former president Sonia Gandhi for making ‘secessionist’ remarks in poll-bound Karnataka.
It attacked the Congress for the purported use of the word ‘sovereignty’ claiming that Gandhi mentioned about it in her speech at Hubballi in Karnataka on Saturday evening.
In her complaint, BJP election management committee convener Shobha Karandlaje urged the poll panel to direct registration of FIR against Gandhi for making such a statement and to “take exemplary punitive action”.
ThePrint reached Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh through text and calls for his party’s statement, but there was no response. This report will be updated as and when a response is received.
A Twitter post from the Congress party’s official handle had the word ‘sovereignty’, fueling the BJP’s outburst against its main rival in the last leg of election campaigning in Karnataka. The second part of the tweet was in quotes, giving the impression that the remark was made by the former Congress president.
CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas:
"The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka's reputation, sovereignty or integrity." pic.twitter.com/W6HjKYWjLa
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 6, 2023
However, Gandhi purportedly did not use the word ‘sovereignty’ or its Hindi equivalent, ‘Samprabhutha’, during her speech in Hindi at Hubballi.
In her speech, the former Congress president had referred to the threats of repercussions from the BJP if the party suffers a defeat in the May 10 assembly election.
“Today the situation is such that they (BJP) openly give threats that if you don’t give them a victory, then the people of Karnataka will not get the blessings of Modi ji. They say that if the BJP loses, then there will be riots. I want to tell them on your behalf that not to think the people of Karnataka are helpless. The people of Karnataka do not depend on anyone’s blessings, but believe in their own hard work and resolve. The people of Karnataka are not cowards,” she said during her 12-minute long speech.
Karandlaje, a Union minister, however, maintained that Gandhi had mentioned sovereignty in her speech. “Sonia Gandhi has spoken about sovereignty. Sonia Gandhi and the Congress have taken the leadership of the Tukde-Tukde gang,” she told reporters Monday.
On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attacked the Congress on the issue during his speech at Nanjangud in Mysuru, about 150 km from Bengaluru.
“These people (Congress) have come and said that they want to protect the sovereignty of Karnataka. Sovereignty which means Karnataka’s ‘Samprabhuta’ (Hindi word for sovereignty). Do you know what this means? They have been sitting in Parliament for so many years, they have taken their oath to the Indian Constitution but say such things. When any country gains freedom, then that country is called a sovereign state. The meaning of what the Congress is saying is they believe that Karnataka is separate from India,” the prime minister claimed.
Subsequently, BJP leaders including Bhupendra Yadav, Smriti Irani, and Tejasvi Surya hit out at Sonia Gandhi over the purported remark that is being attributed to the former Congress president.
Congress' Royal Family has never failed in its bounden duty to insult India, its sovereignty, & integrity.
However, in Her Majesty Sonia Gandhi's desire to protect Karnataka's 'sovereignty,' lies another sinister attempt of Congress to break Karnataka & seed separatism.
1/n pic.twitter.com/xLNU2ANngs
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) May 8, 2023
“Congress’ Royal Family has never failed in its bounden duty to insult India, its sovereignty, & integrity. However, in Her Majesty Sonia Gandhi’s desire to protect Karnataka’s ‘sovereignty,’ lies another sinister attempt of Congress to break Karnataka & seed separatism,” Surya said in a post on Twitter.
The Congress now grabs every chance to insult India, its traditions and cultures on both Indian soil and abroad, he claimed in another tweet.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju, too, took potshots at the Congress, saying that the Britishers left back the Congress to divide the country.
The Congress party only knows one thing – Divide and Rule.
But I know all proud Kannadigas and Indian citizens, Stand UNITED under the leadership PM @narendramodi ji.
अंग्रेज चले गये, लेकिन भारत को बाटने के लिए कांग्रेस छोड़ गये। pic.twitter.com/QJDabGFTSK
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) May 7, 2023
(Edited by Tony Rai)