Karnataka: BJP files complaint against Sonia Gandhi for “sovereignty” remark

The BJP on Monday filed a complaint with election authorities against former AICC chief Sonia Gandhi for her comments on Karnataka's "sovereignty" at a rally in Hubblli on Saturday.

In her speech, the Congress leader had said that the party would not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty and integrity.

The BJP has taken this remark to mean that the Congress is trying to separate the state from the nation. “The statement is divisive in nature and is aimed at dividing the people and creating a rift between people of different states,” reads the complaint, which was filed by BJP election management committee convenor Shoba Karandlaje, who is also a union minister.


Calling Gandhi’s statement an insult to freedom fighters of Karnataka, the complaint states that such a statement from a leader of the Congress party will encourage division on the basis of language and statehood. “Sonia Gandhi has made this statement with malafide intentions…it will encourage foreign forces to interfere,” it states.

In the complaint, the party has called for an FIR to be registered against Gandhi for her remarks.

The BJP has been cornering the Congress over the word, with Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav calling the remark anti-national and an agenda of the tukde-tukde (divide and rule) gang on Monday. In a rally in Nanjangud in Mysuru on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress over this remark, saying that the party was trying to separate Karnataka from the country.