BENGALURU: With Karnataka all set to go to polls in a few months, the ruling Congress has claimed that the BJP is deliberately using Hindutva as a poll plank. Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda said, “Right now, we are seeing BJP unleash the Hindutva strategy and already the impact on the harmony in the state is being felt. The coast is aflame and people are dying. They are aghast to see BJP turning to Hindutva, polarisation, and division in their desperate quest to recapture Karnataka.”
He said the BJP is trying to distract people from the performance of Siddaramaiah government. However, he added, ethos of the state are being damaged in the process. “We are peaceful people. We don't need Yogi Adityanath to show up in Karnataka and try to spread hatred here.” In response, the opposition party trashed all allegations, saying their focus is on “development” in the upcoming elections. BJP Spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri said, “In Karnataka, the Congress itself is trying to bring Hindutva into the election campaign. For the BJP, the most important issue is development.”
The debate follow a series of breakouts of communal violence in coastal Karnataka. Several senior BJP leaders, including party chief Amit Shah, have said that the state government was anti-Hindu. Political observer Sandeep Shastry said, “They are attacking the state government on its non-performance but not aggressively because if they do that the focus will shift to the previous government which, to a certain extent, was non-performing.” Meanwhile, leading entrepreneur, Mohandas Pai said, “In this election, all political parties will play anything. They will play Hindutva, they will play communal, they will play religion and the Congress has sadly blotted its copy book. They celebrated Tipu Jayanti. Tipu was a killer, he was a bigot who killed Konkani people, the community to which I belong. So there is anger among people, especially the Hindu community about marking Tipu Jayanti so blatantly.”
