The Election Commission of India on Wednesday asked the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to take “immediate appropriate action” against Bharatiya Janata Party leader and union minister of state Shobha Karandlaje over her controversial remarks on the Rameshwaram Cafe blast.
Karandlaje on Tuesday slammed the Congress government in Karnataka over the “deteriorating law and order situation” while allegedly claiming that people from Tamil Nadu were planting bombs in the state.
The BJP minister later issued a public apology on social media with a clarification for her statement. Taking to X, Karandlaje said that her words were meant to “shine light, not cast shadows”. She also made it clear that her remarks were solely directed towards those “trained in the Krishnagiri forest.”
“You are directed to ensure that immediate appropriate action may be taken on the complaint in accordance with Model Code of Conduct. Further, it is also requested that a compliance report may be furnished to the Commission within 48 hours,” the poll panel told the CEO.
In its letter, the ECI cited the complaint from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on the matter.
DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi urged the poll body to take action against the BJP leader, saying that her statement, which was made after the MCC came into effect, was in violation of the code and the Representation of the People Act.
Bharathi said that on March 19, Karandlaje, while addressing reporters in Nagarathpete in central Bengaluru, “made a statement alleging that the people of Tamil Nadu were behind the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, which took place on March 1, 2024 in Bengaluru.”
The complaint quoted the BJP leader as saying: “People from Tamil Nadu come here, get trained there and plant bombs here. Placed bomb in cafe.”
Bharathi in the letter added that an investigation in the blast case is currently underway, and the National Investigation Agency has so far not been able to identify the culprit.
“Despite the same, the Hon’ble Minister has made the baseless accusation that the bomb was planted by people from Tamil Nadu,” he wrote.
The DMK also said that the statement attempts to promote feelings of enmity and hatred between the people of Karnataka and the people of Tamil Nadu, and has been made for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of the minister.
“It generalises the people of Tamil Nadu as extremists, and seeks to create hostility and enmity between two communities, i.e., the Tamilians and the Kannadigas,” he wrote.
The DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, also said that the allegations made in the statement are of a grave nature, and have the potential to engender violence against the Tamil community.
“The utterances of the Hon’ble Minister, instilling hatred in the Kannada community towards members of the Tamil community, and are in blatant violation of the MCC,” he wrote.
In the four-page letter, the DMK also said that the socially divisive statement made by the minister had significantly harmed the relations between the two communities and led to animosity and hatred between them, which had been further amplified by social media and mainstream media.
“The statement also tantamounts to hate speech. The Hon’ble Minister has promoted enmity and caused Immense tension between the people of Tamil Nadu, who have been alleged to be the culprit behind planting the bomb at the cafe in Bangalore, and the people of Karnataka, who were the victims of the bomb blast,” the party added.
The DMK has also said that the statement threatens the law and order situation, and subjects the Tamil people, the alleged perpetrators of the blast, to potential reprisals from the people of Karnataka.
“Under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, this Hon’ble Commission has the power to enforce the Model Code of Conduct and ban candidates from campaigning for violating the same. Therefore, we request your good selves to take appropriate action against the Hon’ble Union Minister for State Mrs. Shobha Karandlaje and the Bharatiya Janata Party for violating Sections 123(3A) and 125 of the RP Act, and the MCC,” the DMK demanded.
The ECI announced Lok Sabha elections in the country last week. The polls will be held between April 19 and June 1 while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.