Dasara & Dharmasthala case: Karnataka Congress on backfoot as BJP gears up to badger govt

The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to gain an advantage in the ideological war against the ruling Congress following back-to-back controversies - the investigation of alleged muss murders at Dharmasthala and the inauguration of the Mysuru Dasara.

The current situation bears resemblance with the time when, under the previous BJP government, issues such as the hijab helped Congress consolidate its support base.

On September 1, the BJP has planned a huge rally at Dharmasthala to amp up its narrative that the Congress and its ideological allies are “anti-Hindu”.

This comes after the government’s special investigation team (SIT) ended up arresting, for perjury, a man who claimed to have buried bodies at the temple town.

When several exhumations failed to find anything that could corroborate the claims, an emboldened BJP unleased an attack on the Congress for contributing to the tarnishing of Dharmasthala’s image. In fact, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s statement that a “big conspiracy” had been hatched against the temple town fueled the saffron fire.

Even before the Dharmasthala dust settled, the BJP found another bat to lash Congress: the government’s decision to invite Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, a Muslim, to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festival. Mushtaq’s 2023 comments criticising the worship of the Kannada language as Goddess Bhuvaneshwari were widely circulated on social media.

Plus, Shivakumar’s statement that “Chamundi Hills and Goddess Chamundeshwari (the reigning deity of Mysuru) are not Hindu properties” has riled up the saffron brigade.

On both issues - the Dharmasthala fallout and Dasara - Congress leaders, even those in government, have put up a meek defence. For example, the government has said that the Mysuru Dasara was a cultural event and not a religious one.

“Congress hasn’t diverted from its ideological path. It’s just that the BJP is trying to take advantage of that,” political analyst Harish Ramaswamy says.

“As it is, the BJP has enough to argue against the Congress, which has made many
blunders such as price hikes. Congress is headed towards a difficult election next,” he adds.

Political strategist Venkatesh Thogarighatta says the BJP has the tactical advantage.

“In balancing between consolidation of Ahinda (minorities, backward classes and Dalits) and countering the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, the Congress’ strategy gets confusing,” he says, adding that inviting Mushtaq to inaugurate Dasara was “a tactical error”.

Government Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed defended Mushtaq inaugurating Dasara. “Did BJP have a problem when K S Nisar Ahmed inaugurated Dasara? We take the chief minister to Idgah during Ramzan. Is that wrong? Banu Mushtaq is a Kannadiga who won the Booker Prize. Is the BJP anti-women?” he asked.