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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday condemned Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane's remark on EVMs, describing it as "shocking" and contrary to the inclusive values upheld during India's freedom struggle.
Stating that targeting any particular community is wrong, Tharoor asserted that everyone is an equal citizen of the country and that's the only way for the country to progress. Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, "This kind of thing 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. Mahatma Gandhi onwards, our leader said we have fought for the freedom of everybody. We will create a country for everybody, we will write a constitution for everybody, and everybody will live here with equal rights." "I must say that people picking on any one community, whether it's against Muslims, Hindus, Christians, or any caste, that is all wrong. We are all equal individual citizens of India, and that is the only basis on which our country can progress," he added. This comes after Maharashtra's Fisheries and Ports Minister Nitesh Rane, addressing a Hindu Garjana Sabha in Sangli on Friday, reportedly made derogatory remarks saying, "EVM means, Every Vote against Mullah." Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Brinda Karat also condemned the minister's remarks and called for the arrest of Rane. "This is a hate speech and this man should be arrested. This man 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 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. (ANI)
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