Union minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday directed the Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO) 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 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 this Lok Sabha pols.
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 has 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.
