BJP goes overboard to defend BSY over eating hotel food at Dalits' homes

The state BJP went overboard on Monday trying to defend its leader B S Yeddyurappa in a controversy over eating hotel food at the houses of Dalits even as a complaint of untouchability has been filed against the former chief minister.

The charges of eating hotel food for breakfast at the residence of Dalits against Yeddyurappa and some BJP leaders during the party’s ‘Janasamparka Abhiyan’ tour have been made on two consecutive days — once on the occasion of the inaugural of the tour in Tumakuru on Thursday and a day later in Chitradurga.

On both the occasions, the video footage by news channels showed Yeddyurappa, Shobha Karandlaje and other leaders eating ‘tatte idli’ in Tumakuru and a day later eating a breakfast spread of idli, vade and pongal on a banana leaf in Chitradurga.

As new channels aired the footage on Thursday, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy wondered from which hotel the ‘tatte idli’ was packed. While the JD(S) did not pursue the issue, the Congress took it up the next day with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accusing Yeddyurappa of preferring to order food from outside instead of eating pulao prepared by the Dalit family.

The BJP tried to do some damage control by releasing statements from the hosts that Yeddyurappa indeed had eaten the food prepared by them. However, the controversy continued over the weekend.

Hanumantharayappa, one of the family members of the host in Tumakuru, gave a statement to TV channels, “He (Yeddyurappa) came to our house. He ate breakfast prepared by us. We had no option but to order food from outside as there were as many as 300 visitors.... much more than we anticipated.” He said nobody had pressured him to make the statement.

Rudramuni, the host in Chitradurga said, in a video released by the BJP, “We served food prepared by us to Yeddyurappa. We were very happy with his visit. A small issue is being blown out of proportion.”

One Venkatesh from Mandya filed a complaint of untouchability with the local police against Yeddyurappa. According to sources, the Mandya police have transferred the complaint to Chitradurga police citing jurisdictional issues. So far no case has been registered.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday, BJP spokesperson and MLA S Suresh Kumar stated that Yeddyurappa and other leaders indeed had breakfast prepared in the houses of Dalits in Tumakuru and Chitradurga.
Kumar said that the “principle and central” to the whole issue is having food at the residence of Dalits with members of the family and not to bother whether the food is prepared at home or brought from outside.

He said that by casting aspersion on the BJP leaders of not having food in Dalit’s family, the Congress has insulted and humiliated the entire Dalit community. “The Congress should come out with something more serious and tangible against the BJP instead of stooping to cheap tactics,” Kumar said.