Cong petitions EC to direct police to file case against PM over ‘false statement’

PTI, May 8, 2023, 7:49 PM IST

Bengaluru: The Congress on Monday petitioned the Election Commission, requesting it to direct police authorities to register a case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he made a false statement that ”Congress is trying to disintegrate Karnataka from Bharat”.

The party accused him of making ”false, baseless, frivolous” allegations only to solicit votes for his the BJP during his public meeting at Nanjangud in Mysuru district on Sunday.

The petition, signed by KPCC spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda and the party’s Legal Cell Secretary Sanjay Yadav among others, said that Modi’s alleged statement is ”absolutely perverse and without an iota of responsibility”. They also said it was prejudicial to national integration and maintenance of harmony.

In a blistering attack on the Congress for former party chief Sonia Gandhi’s ”Karnataka’s sovereignty” remarks, Modi during his last campaign rally ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls, accused the party of openly advocating for ”separating” Karnataka from India.

The Prime Minister’s charge came a day after Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday.

The Congress, referring to her speech in a tweet said, ”The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity”. It added that Gandhi, who is the Congress’s Parliamentary Party Chairperson, ”sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas”.

It also posted pictures of Gandhi speaking at the public meeting. Modi, apparently citing this, alleged that the disease of the ”tukde-tukde gang” (referring to alleged anti-national elements) had reached the Congress’s top level.