'Money collected from South diverted to North': Karnataka Deputy CM's brother demands 'separate country' for South India

Congress MP DK Suresh on Thursday sparked a controversy after he said there was no choice but to demand a "separate country" for South India as the Centre was collecting funds from the South and diverting them to the North. 

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"Injustice is being done to South India," said Suresh while reacting to the Interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. "Funds that were supposed to reach the South are getting diverted and distributed to North India," he claimed.

DK Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, said there was no other choice but to ask for a "separate country" as a "result of the situation that Hindi region has imposed on South India".

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BJP MP Tejasvi Surya slammed SUresh, saying he was "hell-bent on breaking the nation". "While the Congress Party has a history of 'Divide and Rule', its MP DK Suresh plays the trick again now, wanting the North and South to be divided," Surya said. He also claimed that tax devolution to Karnataka has increased under the Modi government. 

"On one hand, their leader Rahul Gandhi is attempting to 'unite' the country with his 'Jodo' Yatras. On the other hand, we have an MP who is hell-bent on breaking the nation. Congress' idea of divide and rule is much worse than that followed by the colonisers," Surya said in a tweet.

The BJP MP said that Kannadigas will never allow this to happen. "We will give them a befitting reply in the Lok Sabha elections and ensure that #CongressMuktBharat attains fruition."

Another Karnataka BJP leader R Ashoka said, "While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is doing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Karnataka Congress leader and MP DK Suresh is talking about Bharat Todo. As a result of the divide and rule policy of the Congress party, the country has already experienced division once and now they are talking about dividing India again."

"A parliamentarian who has taken oath to protect the integrity and sovereignty of the country speaking like this shows the divisive mindset of the Congress party," he added.

DK Shivakumar, however, defended his brother, saying he only expressed "people's opinion". "I am for Akhand Bharat. He has only expressed people's opinion. People are thinking like that because they are being neglected. The country is one. Since injustice is served to people, he (DK Suresh) has said that. India should be together and one. We are all one. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, we are one. Every village should get justice."

(With inputs from Anagha and Sagay Raj)