Rameswaram cafe blast: DMK files complaint against Shobha Karandlaje for 'person from Tamil Nadu plants bomb' remark

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday filed a complaint against Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje with the Election Commission of India over her remark against Tamils. In her recent statement, Karandlaje alleged that the suspect involved in the March 1 blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe was from Tamil Nadu.

The Union Minister is facing backlash for her statement linking the people of Tamil Nadu with the Bengalurur's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case. In the viral video, Shobha Karandlaje can be heard saying, “One person comes from Tamil Nadu and plants a bomb in a cafe. Another man comes from Delhi and raises pro-Pak slogans in the Vidhan Soudha. Another man comes from Kerala and throws acid at college students."

She made the statement while protesting against the Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara over an alleged attack on a shopkeeper for playing Hanuman Chalisa during 'Azaan'. 

To pacify the controversy around her “Tamil Nadu remark”, Shobha Karandlaje apologized and took to her social media account, saying, “To my Tamil brothers & sisters, I wish to clarify that my words were meant to shine light, not cast shadows. Yet I see that my remarks brought pain to some - and for that, I apologize.” In her social media post, the BJP MP made it clear that her remarks were based on the people who are trained in the Krishnagiri forest.

“To anyone from Tamil Nadu affected, From the depths of my heart, I ask your forgiveness. Furthermore, I retract my previous comments,” she wrote in her post.

DMK has alleged that the statement was made by the BJP MP to harm the relationship between the people of Karnataka and the people of Tamil Nadu.

 "Pertinently, an investigation in the blast case is currently underway, and the National Investigation Agency has so far not been able to identify the culprit behind the blast. Despite the same, the Hon'ble Minister has made the baseless accusation that the bomb was planted by people from Tamil Nadu. It is being reproduced hereunder: “People from Tamil Nadu come here, get trained there and plant bombs here. Placed bomb in a cafe,” DMK wrote in its complaint.