Polls about Ram Mandir, not growth, says BJP leader; booked by police

BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’S candidate for the Belagavi Rural seat, Sanjay Patil, who is seeking re-election from the constituency, landed in trouble on Friday after the police booked a case against him for a speech he made late on Tuesday saying the May 12 polls in the state weren’t about drinking water or development but about Hindus and Muslims.

A video of Patil making the controversial statement at a rally had gone viral on Thursday. In the video, Patil is seen saying, “This election is not about roads or drinking water, it is about Hindus and Muslims.”

Patil then went on to advise the crowd to vote for the Congress candidate Lakshmi Hebbalkar if she said the party was in favour of constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “Let her talk about Ram mandir… and you can all vote for her. However, she can’t because she is among those who construct masjids, Babri Masjid,” he said. Hebbalkar is the president of the state Mahila Congress. Patil went on, attacking the state government for insisting on celebrating the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore. “Let those who want the Babri Masjid and celebrate Tipu jayanti vote for Congress.” An FIR has been lodged by the district administration against Patil on Friday by the Belagavi Rural police under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for promoting disharmony among religions. Ilyas Ahmed, returning officer for Belagavi Rural, said a case has also been booked under the Representation of the People Act.

Addressing the media in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah said, “Babri Masjid was brought down in 1992. What have they done after that? The BJP has never fought any elections on the basis of the Ram Temple issue. And it is definitely not an issue in this election.” The BJP, too, criticised the statement.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah may have declared that his party has nothing to do with Gali Janardhan Reddy (in pic), but the saffron party seems to have quietly given the green signal to the controversial mining baron to throw his still considerable resources behind it. Reddy, jailed for illegal mining, is now out on bail although barred by a court order from entering Ballari (formerly Bellary), his pocket borough. The party has fielded Reddy’s younger brother Somashekara Reddy from the Ballari City constituency and his confidant BS Sriramulu from Molkalmuru in Chitradurga district.

Reddy has been meeting disaffected senior Congressmen of Ballari district and trying to lure them to the saffron fold.

SWhile t here are many instances of multiple members of a family fighting elections at the same time, the only couple who are in the fray simultaneously in the Karnataka assembly polls are from the border district of Belgavi.

The husband and wife have both been fielded by the BJP. While Shashikala Jolle is a sitting member of the outgoing assembly from Nippani and will be seeking re-election, her husband Annasaheb Jolle will contest the Chikkodi-sadagala seat.

The Jolles run a clutch of educational institutions, a credit cooperative society with more than ₹1,000 crore of turnover and several other ventures.

Annasaheb has in the past tried entering the assembly unsuccessfully from Chikkodi.

In the 2013 polls, both Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha contested assembly seats. Kumaraswamy won and his wife lost. arekoppa Bangarappa (in pic) was the 12th chief minister of Karnataka and a powerful backward class leader. After his death in 2011, members of his family have fought over his legacy. Bangarappa’s sons Kumar and Madhu are bitter rivals in their father’s pocket borough of Soraba. Kumar Bangarappa, running on a Congress ticket, defeated his younger brother, who was contesting on a BJP ticket, in the 2004 assembly elections. Madhu, contesting on a JD(S) ticket, defeated his elder brother, running as a Congress candidate, in 2013. Kumar is now a BJP candidate and is trying to exact revenge on Madhu, who is contesting on a JD(S) ticket. Geetha Shivarajkumar nee Bangarappa, the daughter of the former Cm,is now supporting younger brother Madhu.