EC tells Congress to clarify tweet quoting Sonia Gandhi on Karnataka’s ‘sovereignty’

The Election Commission on Monday directed the Congress to provide a clarification on a tweet that quoted party leader Sonia Gandhi as saying that the party would “not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity”.

The Congress had posted the tweet on May 6 after the party’s rally at Hubbali in Karnataka. However, according to an unidentified Congress official, someone from the social media team of the party had misinterpreted Gandhi’s speech and she had never used the word sovereignty while addressing the rally, reported The Hindu.

Nevertheless, the Bharatiya Janata Party filed a complaint with the Election Commission on Monday demanding immediate and firm action against Gandhi. It also demanded that the poll panel should consider de-recognising the party.

“Karnataka is a very important member state in the Union of India and any call to protect the sovereignty of a member state of the Union of India amounts to a call for secession and is fraught with perilous and pernicious consequences,” the saffron party said.

The poll body, in the notice to the Congress, quoted the complaint as saying that the tweet violates provisions of the Representation of the People Act. “You are requested to clarify and take rectification measures in respect of the social...

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