New Delhi: Rajya Sabha was off to a stormy start Friday as BJP parliamentarian Piyush Goyal brought up a comment made by a Congress MP that south India could be forced to demand a separate nation.
Karnataka Congress MP and brother of the state’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, D.K. Suresh, claimed Thursday that taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India.
The Lok Sabha MP had said southern states would be forced to demand for a separate nation if this “injustice” was not rectified. He also said Hindi was being “imposed” on the south on all fronts.
Goyal on Friday demanded action against him as well as an apology from the Congress, particularly from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
He further said the remark was aimed at dividing the nation. “This is an attack on the country’s Constitution, and its unity… The Congress should clarify if it endorses this thought. Does it want to split the country into north and south India?” Goyal said.
During the ongoing #BudgetSession2024, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal raises objections to alleged remarks by Congress MP DK Suresh in Rajya Sabha, citing concerns over divisive rhetoric. #DKSuresh #PiyushGoyal"@airnewsalerts @diprjk pic.twitter.com/6zXBVZ36SL
— DD NEWS SRINAGAR (@ddnewsSrinagar) February 2, 2024
Responding to Goyal, Kharge pointed out that Suresh was not a member of the Rajya Sabha and that the matter shouldn’t be discussed in the Upper House. However, he was interrupted by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
“Let tempers cool,” Dhankhar said, adding that if any allegation was brought against a Lok Sabha member in the Rajya Sabha, a notice was required to be given to the Chair.
“Opposition leader of the House (Kharge) has still not condemned the statement. This shows that the Congress is not against the views of D.K. Suresh,” Goyal persisted.
He added that Suresh’s statement manifested his divisive thinking. “This is what the party’s leader said — ‘We will be forced to demand a separate country. All southern states must raise their voices demanding a separate nation’,” Goyal told the House.
“The remark insults the country’s Constitution as well as the unity and the integrity of the country,” Goyal said. He also pointed out that the remark was made in Kannada.
Kharge countered by saying that Congress leaders had sacrificed their lives for the country such as Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
“… If anyone speaks about breaking the country, we will never tolerate it, irrespective of which party they belong to. Mallikarjun Kharge will himself say that from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, we are one and we will be one,” he said.
मैं, मल्लिकार्जुन खरगे खुद ये कहूँगा कि कन्याकुमारी से लेकर कश्मीर तक हम एक हैं, एक देश रहेंगे।
इसीलिए इंदिरा गाँधी जी ने अपनी जान दी, और राजीव गाँधी जी ने अपनी जान दी। pic.twitter.com/iajSs8xuAI
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) February 2, 2024
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also criticised the statement and said: “We are talking of an MP who is using separatist language, talking of dividing the country and here we are being lectured on technicalities of the Constitution.”
In the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded action against D.K. Suresh. He asked if the Congress stood by his statement. He also said the matter should be sent to the ethics committee and that an apology should also be issued.
‘Taxes from south going to north’
Responding to the interim budget tabled Thursday, D.K. Suresh told reporters in New Delhi that it would be enough if the Centre gave Karnataka its share of money.
“Our demand is that we must get our share of GST, customs from our state and direct taxes. We have witnessed a lot of injustice to south India… We are seeing our share of money being distributed in north India,” he said.
He added: “If we do not condemn this today, it may be necessary in the coming days to propose a separate nation (for the south).”
“The Centre is collecting taxes of more than Rs 4 lakh crore from Karnataka, but how much are we getting in return? We must question this. Since the 16th Finance Commission is going to start, if these (anomalies) are not rectified, the southern states will have to raise their voice,” Suresh added.
As the BJP pushed back, Suresh’s brother and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the MP only spoke about the public’s perception.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tried to assuage the controversy by saying that a separate nationhood to south India could not be asked for. “Sovereignty should prevail,” he said.
He, however, added that “injustice” was happening vis-a-vis tax devolution.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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