Shah accuses Siddaramaiah govt of dividing Hindus by seeking tag
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday accused Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah of trying to divide Hindus in the state by seeking to accord the status of a religious minority to the Lingayat and Veerashaiva-Linagayat communities.
“Just ahead of the (assembly) elections in Karnataka, they have tried to divide Lingayats and Veerashaivas, also Lingayats and other communities, by announcing minority status for them,” Shah told reporters.
Questioning the timing of the move, he asked the Siddaramaiah government, “What were you doing for five years?”
“In 2013 when your own (United Progressive Alliance) government was in power at the Centre, they had rejected it. Why was Siddaramaiah silent then?. This is an attempt to divide the Hindus..,” he said.
On the state government’s decision, which is subject to central government approval, Shah said the timing was questionable, coming less than two months before the polls, which the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday set for May 12.
“It is a conspiracy to stop (BJP chief ministerial candidate BS) Yeddyurappa from becoming
DAVANAGERE:
chief minister,” Shah said.
“On one hand, Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) speaks about uniting Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, while on the other hand in Karnataka, its own chief minister is speaking about dividing Hindus. I have not seen such a sharp difference within a political party,” he added.
When asked about the Congress’s recent allegation that the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) was a ‘B’ team of the BJP, Shah denied any nexus between the two. “We will contest all 224 seats in the state. There is no question of an alliance,” he said.
“In Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the BJP had ruled for a long time, farmer suicides were low. Even those were for reasons other than of agriculture. Where the Congress is in power, farmer suicides are high,” he said.
Shah also said the BJP was open to fielding the pontiffs of mutts, or Hindu religious seats, as candidates in the May 12 elections. “We are not opposed to fielding seers in the election, but such tickets will be given on the basis of merit ...” he said.
SHAH’S FAUX PAS
Shah committed an error while speaking when he said, “If there is a contest for the most corrupt government, then the Yeddyurappa government will finish first” and was quick to correct himself, saying he meant chief minister Siddaramaiah.