Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress President and Leader Of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, rebuked his party colleague DK Suresh over his remarks that southern states will be forced to demand for a "separate nation."
Claiming taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former were not getting their due share, Congress MP DK Suresh on Thursday said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.
His brother and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said Suresh only spoke about the public perception, even as the BJP lashed out at the Lok Sabha member.
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Reacting to the remarks of DK Suresh, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that the party will not tolerate if anyone speaks of breaking the country.
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"...If anyone speaks about breaking the country, we will never tolerate it - irrespective of whichever party they belong to. Mallikarjun Kharge will himself say that from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, we are one and we will be one..." Kharge said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said "separate nationhood to south India cannot be asked for. The sovereignty should prevail." However, he also said "injustice" was happening vis-a-vis tax devolution.
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Suresh, who represents the Bangalore Rural seat, claimed the taxes collected from southern states were being distributed to North India. Further, Hindi was being 'imposed' on South India in every aspect.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also raised the issue of Congress MP DK Suresh's remark in Lok Sabha on Friday and demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi.
"...I demand an apology and action from Sonia Gandhi. This is a violation of his oath [as an MP]...I urge that the matter be sent to the Ethics Committee...Congress should take action. If they don't the country will believe that you too are involved in 'tukde tukde' of the country," Joshi said.
