Congress president Mallikarjun Kahrge on Friday said that he will not tolerate anyone talking about splitting the country, irrespective of his or her party affiliation.

The Congress president’s remarks came in the Rajya Sabha came a day after Karnataka MP DK Suresh sparked controversy stating that there was no option but to demand a separate nation for South India in view of the Centre’s denial of adequate funds from the BJP-led Centre.

“If anyone speaks about breaking the country, we will never tolerate it. Irrespective of the party the person belongs to, whether it’s my party or someone else’s, I, Mallikarjun Kharge, will himself say that from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, we are one and we will be one,” the Congress president said.

Reacting to the interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, Suresh, the brother of Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, said that injustice was being done to Karnataka by the BJP-led central government.

“Our demand is that we must get our share of GST, customs from our state and direct taxes. We are seeing our share of money being distributed in north India. If we do not condemn it today, then in the coming days a necessity will arise to put forth a proposal for a separate nation (for South India),” Suresh said yesterday.

The remarks came in for severe criticism from the BJP which termed it as the party’s ‘divide and rule’ policy. “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,” BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said in a tweet, adding that ‘Kannadigas’ will give Congress a befitting reply in the Lok Sabha elections.

Reacting to the controversy, Shivakumar said that his brother only expressed aloud what is the 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, he said.

Suresh also took to X later and said that he stands by the unity and integrity of India as a proud Indian. “A proud Indian and a proud Kannadiga! South India and especially Karnataka have faced the brutality of injustice in funds distribution. Even after being the 2nd largest GST-contributing state, the Centre has been utterly unjust to Karnataka and Southern states while states like Gujarat have seen a 51 per cent hike. If this is not injustice, then what is?” he asked.

“We are sons of this soil and need funds for our developmental activities. Even after repeated requests for funds for developmental activities and drought relief the Centre has continued to turn a deaf ear to us,” he added.