Congress leader Manickam Tagore on Thursday accused prime minister Narendra Modi of a breach of parliamentary privilege for attributing the ‘’Karnataka sovereignty’’ remark to Sonia Gandhi and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to send the matter to the privileges committee of the Parliament and allow the matter for discussion in the next Lok Sabha session.
“The PM as the representative of the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] in the Karnataka election has raised false accusations against the Congress against their commitment to protecting the unity and sovereignty of the state of Karnataka if wins the election. The remarks of the prime minister misrepresent the statement of Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the Congress party, that the meaning of protecting sovereignty as meant by the Congress is the plan to separate the state from India,” said Tagore in a letter to the Lok Sabha speaker.
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“Such a vehement statement from the Prime Minister is highly obnoxious which would be a wrong precedence for the people who acquire high positions in this country either now or in the future,” he added.
Tagore’s letter to Birla highlights that this breach of parliamentary privilege by the PM could be traced under Rule 222, Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule of Procedures.
The Vidhurnagar MP further slammed PM Modi for maintaining a “mischievous” attitude while putting these accusations which Tagore deemed as “false”.
“I request you to take appropriate action to refer the same to the Privilege Committee and bring a motion of breach of privilege in Lok Sabha,” Tagore’s letter read.
On May 6, the official Twitter handle of the Congress party put out a tweet attributing to Gandhi saying: “The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity.” The tweet was later deleted.
PM Modi while slamming the Congress had said that Karnataka does not have sovereignty and that “those who talk of the state’s sovereignty are advocating secession.”
On Monday, the BJP filed a complaint with the election commission about the alleged statement.
‘’The word ‘sovereignty’ was never used by Sonia Gandhi Ji in her speech dated May 6, 2023, at Hubballi, Karnataka. Since this has been erroneously reported – it is being deleted,’’ the Congress had said after the election commission sought an explanation from it.