CHENNAI: CM MK Stalin on Tuesday strongly condemned the remarks of the BJP's Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje, allegedly accusing people from Tamil Nadu of being behind the recent blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru.
He urged the Election Commission of India to immediately take stringent action against the minister, who hails from Karnataka, for her “hate speech”. Sharing a short video clip of the minister, in which she is heard saying, "People from Tamil Nadu come here, get trained there and plant bombs here…placed a bomb in the cafe," Stalin said it was a reckless statement.
“One must either be an NIA official or closely linked to the #RameshwaramCafeBlast to make such claims. Clearly, she lacks the authority for such assertions,” he said.
He added that Tamilians and Kannadigas alike would reject this divisive rhetoric of the BJP. Urging for appropriate legal action against the minister for “causing threat to peace, harmony and national unity,” he said, “From the Prime Minister to cadre, everyone in the BJP should stop engaging in this dirty divisive politics at once”.
Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said he strongly condemned the minister’s hate speech, which intended to generalise the people of Tamil Nadu as extremists. He requested the ECI to take stringent measures to curb such hate speeches with divisive intent.
Terming the speech as “venomous,” Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin wondered how the BJP minister arrived at such an outrageous claim when the NIA was still investigating the incident. “The deplorable divisive politics of the BJP has hit a new low. I’m sure the Tamils and our Kannadiga brothers and sisters will reject the disgusting claims of the BJP,” he said, urging the ECI to take action.
Later, Karandlaje retracted her controversial statement and issued an apology to those who were offended by her remarks.
