NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday took cognisance of the DMK’s complaint against Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje over her blast remarks and asked the Karnataka chief electoral officer to take appropriate action under Model Code of Conduct.
The Madurai City Police have registered a case against Ms Karandlaje on charges of promoting enmity between different groups of people on the grounds of language. Ms Karandlaje reportedly said “people from Tamil Nadu, who come to Karnataka, get trained in Tamil Nadu and plant bombs in Karnataka.”
The poll-regulating body also asked the CEO to submit a report of the same within 48 hours. The Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has strongly condemned the Minister’s ‘reckless’ statement. The Minister later apologised for her statement. Based on a complaint from an individual, C. Thiagarajan of Kadachanenthal, the Cyber Crime police have booked the Minister under four sections – 153, 153A, 505 (1) (b) and 505 (2) — of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In his complaint lodged on Wednesday, Mr Thiagarajan has said that he had seen on a television news bulletin, the statements made by Ms Karandlaje against Tamils, even as probe into the last week’s Bengaluru Rameswaram Café bomb blast case was underway.
This statement, the complainant said, could create enmity and hatred between the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Minister made a sweeping statement against Tamils portraying them as terrorists, which could incite violence against Tamils, he pointed out. Based on his complaint, a case was registered.
On Tuesday, the BJP minister had triggered a row when she said “people who come from Tamil Nadu plant bombs here (in Bengaluru), people from Delhi chant ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans and people who come from Kerala were involved in acid attacks.”
Following this, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK approached the EC against Karandlaje, alleging that she has violated the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of People Act.
Karandlaje in her apology stated, “To my Tamil brothers & sisters, I wish to clarify that my words were meant to shine light, not cast shadows. Yet I see that my remarks brought pain to some – and for that, I apologize. My remarks were solely directed towards those trained in the Krishnagiri forest, linked to the Rameswaram Cafe blast. To anyone from Tamil Nadu effected (sic), from the depths of my heart, I ask your forgiveness. Furthermore, I retract my previous comments,” she said in a post on X.
(Manas Dasgupta)
