Overview

• Congress leader Ajoy Kumar issued a public apology on July 2, characterising his remark about Sikkim as an unintentional slip of the tongue
• The BJP Sikkim unit denounced the comment as ignorant and called for Congress to educate its leaders on India’s history and geography
• BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of echoing Muhammad Ali Jinnah and undermining national unity
• Kumar redirected criticism by challenging the BJP to address the alleged ₹400 crore SAIL financial scandal instead of focusing on his verbal error
• The incident underscores deepening partisan tensions and the symbolic importance of affirming Sikkim’s constitutional status