Mangaluru, July 20, 2017: MLC and Chief Whip of State Legislative Council Ivan D’Souza has come down heavily on Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje who had included a living person in the list of 23 people who were killed in cases of communal hatred across the state. The MP had submitted the list in a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding an NIA probe into the same.
Ivan who spoke to reporters here on July 20, Thursday demanded Shobha’s resignation and accused her of trying to create communal unrest. "The BJP thinks it can win votes through communal instigation," said Ivan. By furnishing false information, Shobha has hurt the sentiments of people of the district, he said and demanded an apology from her and also asked her to quit her MP position.
Pointing out that the Congress never staged a protest after the murder of Karopady GP Vice President Jalil Karopady as it did not want to resort to violence, Ivan said contrarily the BJP had violated the Section 144 to stage protest in Bantwal.
Ivan also questioned why Shobha’s list did not include the names of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga, Praveen Poojary, Harish Poojary and others who too were murdered. He even pointed out that Shobha’s list did not have the names of members of any other community and questioned if she was an MP only for one community.
A booklet highlighting the achievements of MLC Ivan D’Souza was released on the occasion by District Congress President Harish Kumar.