THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress on Monday called for the disqualification of Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane after he labelled Kerala a "mini Pakistan" and claimed that "all terrorists vote for Gandhis," referring to the election victories of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
Strongly condemning Rane's statement, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi respond to the controversial remarks made by the Maharashtra minister.
Venugopal called for the disqualification of the Maharashtra minister for violating his oath of office with his "divisive remarks".
The Alappuzha MP also stated that the defamatory comments branding the people of Wayanad as "extremists would be challenged both legally and politically."
Speaking at a rally in Purandar tehsil of Pune district on Sunday, Nitesh Rane said, "Kerala is a mini Pakistan. Terrorists (previously) voted for Rahul Gandhi and now for his sister Priyanka Gandhi."
Facing sharp criticism from opposition parties for his comments, the BJP minister on Monday maintained that Kerala is very much a part of India, and he is merely raising issues of religious conversion of Hindus and "love jihad" in the southern state.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, said Rane, who called Kerala a "mini-Pakistan" and insulted Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, should resign from his position as a minister.
Referring to a similar statement made by senior CPI(M) leader A Vijayaraghavan, who said that Rahul secured victory in the Wayanad seat twice with the support of communal forces and that extremist elements were present at Priyanka Gandhi's campaign rallies, Satheesan said the communal remarks, initially made by the CPI(M) in Kerala to please the Sangh Parivar leadership, are now being adopted by the BJP at the national level.
"The statement made by CPI(M) leader A Vijayaraghavan regarding Priyanka Gandhi's victory in Wayanad was aimed at providing the BJP with ammunition to attack the Congress. Instead of correcting Vijayaraghavan, the CPI(M) state secretary and others encouraged it, and the people of Kerala can now clearly see the reason behind this," he said.
KPCC chief K Sudhakaran MP has alleged that both the BJP and the CPI(M) are orchestrating a coordinated effort to tarnish Kerala's secular legacy.
In a statement, he said that BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane's hate speech, based on CPI(M) Politburo member Vijayaraghavan's statement, stands as evidence of this conspiracy.
Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala in 2019 and again in 2024, along with Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh six months ago.
He retained Rae Bareli and vacated Wayanad, which was won by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a by-election last month.