Overview

• On July 1, during a press conference on the alleged ₹400 crore SAIL scam and India’s foreign relations, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar referred to Sikkim as a “neighbouring country.”
• Kumar issued an apology on July 2, calling it a “slip of the tongue,” but BJP leaders accused Congress of divisive politics and branded the party as “Jinnahwadi.”
• The BJP Sikkim unit denounced the remark as “outrageous and ignorant” and demanded that Congress educate its leaders to prevent such blunders.
• Sikkim’s lone MP Indra Hang Subba described the comment as a “grave affront” to the state’s identity and SKM secretary Bikash Basnet urged strict action to uphold Sikkim’s constitutional status.
• Despite the apology, the controversy has deepened partisan polarization by reviving debates over national unity, political accountability and regional respect.