Karnataka sovereignty remark: Congress leader accuses PM of parliamentary privilege breach

Congress leader Manickam Tagore has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a breach of parliamentary privilege for attributing the "Karnataka sovereignty" remark to Sonia Gandhi.

New Delhi: Congress leader Manickam Tagore Thursday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of breaching 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 Parliament.

The Congress leader, in a letter addressed to the Speaker, claimed that the Prime Minister has disseminated "sensitive false information" among the public. Tagore also alleged that Prime Minister Modi indulged in an act of breach of Parliamentary Privileges under Rule 222 of the Lok Sabha Rule of Procedures during his election campaign in Karnataka.

"The prime minister as the representative of the BJP 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," he said in his letter to Birla.

The Virudhunagar MP said that 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. In precise the prime minister has informed that 'Congress indicates that Congress considers Karnataka separate from India'".

"Therefore, it is pertinent that the Speaker refer the issue to the Committee of Parliamentary Privileges under Rule 222 and allow the same for discussion in the next Lok Sabha session as well as the House should rebuke the state of the prime minister seeking an explanation from him," Tagore said.

The Congress MP said that keeping in view the seriousness of such "false representation with a mischievous attitude, 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." Prime Minister Modi had accused the top Gandhi leadership of talking about "Karnataka's Sovereignty", a remark that was tweeted by the Congress party but later withdrawn saying it was done erroneously.

"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. (With agency inputs)