A day after Omar Abdullah hit out at Congress for its criticism and questioned whether the party wanted Kashmiris to be arrested, Karra described the chief minister's comment as "detached from reality and highly unfortunate".
"The public has nothing to do with this debate. It is the govt that is expected to stand upright," Karra said Friday in a statement. He also questioned, "Did a single person in Kerala go to jail when its govt chose to sing only the first two" stanzas.
Karra further questioned whether Omar was "capable of standing up for secular and inclusive values like the CMs of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana had done by limiting Vande Mataram singing to first two stanzas at state events?"
Earlier in the day, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary had also dismissed Congress's criticism, saying, "Vande Mataram is our national song and we are proud of it".
The dispute began after Congress objected to the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the inaugural ceremony of the International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir.
On Thursday, Omar had said singing of the national song was a statutory and constitutional obligation. Responding to Congress's objection, he said, "All six stanzas of the national song must be played across the country at the govt events."
Omar also pointed out that legal action could be taken against those who failed to stand during the entire national song and questioned whether Congress wanted more Kashmiris to be jailed.
Karra's response has now sharpened the disagreement between the two alliance partners, with the Congress leader directly challenging Omar's position on how Vande Mataram should be observed at state events.
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