New Delhi: BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje was booked for her remarks on the Rameshwaram Cafe blast after the Election Commission sought action against her.
The Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO) was directed to take immediate and appropriate action on the DMK’s complaint about alleged model code violation by Union minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje. The poll panel had also sought a compliance report on the matter within 48 hours.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has sought action against Karandlaje for alleging that a person from Tamil Nadu was responsible for the IED blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on March 1.
This is the first action ordered by the EC against a key political figure in Lok Sabha polls.
In its complaint to the Election Commission earlier in the day, the DMK said that the minister’s statement generalised the people of Tamil Nadu as “extremists”.
During a protest in Bengaluru on Tuesday, she had said that “law and order in Karnataka has deteriorated. People who come from Tamil Nadu plant bombs here, people from Delhi chant ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans and people who come from Kerala were involved in acid attacks.”
She later apologised for her remarks and said she was retracting her comments.
The Madurai police have booked her for “promoting enmity” between different groups, while her remarks had drawn sharp criticism from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and other DMK leaders.
