New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday expressed his shock over Nitesh Rane’s alleged remark about the “EVM.” He also said that targeting any specific community or caste was wrong. Shashi Tharoor told news agency ANI, “This is quite shocking. In our country, we really have to understand the basic lesson of the freedom struggle, which is that when one set of people said that religion is the basis of their nationhood, they went away and created Pakistan.”
Tharoor added, “We are all equal individual citizens of India, and that is the only basis on which our country can progress.” While EVM stands for electronic voting machine, Nitesh Rane, addressing a Hindu Garjana Sabha in Sangli on Friday, reportedly said, “EVM means, Every Vote against Mullah.”
Rane’s comment spark controversy
The BJP leader recently stirred controversy with his comment calling Kerala a “mini-Pakistan,” prompting Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to label the statement as “deeply provocative and deplorable.” In September of last year, Nitesh Rane was booked for allegedly making hate speech against Muslims.
Brinda Karat demands arrest
Meanwhile, Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also condemned Rane’s remarks, calling for his arrest. “This is hate speech and this man should be arrested. He is a threat to India as this is not the first time he has made such an outrageous communal statement. The fact that he continues as a minister is a reflection of the hypocrisy of the BJP and the RSS. Prime minister (Narendra Modi) talks of the Constitution and here his minister is destroying the basic foundation of the Constitution through this hate speech, so he must be removed from his post,” Karat said.
