Dharmasthala case: BJP slams govt, demands interim report

Bengaluru: Alleging that there was a “ leftist smear campaign” against Dharmasthala and Hindu places of worship, the BJP urged the ruling Congress to submit an interim report during the ongoing Legislature session on the alleged mass burials in the temple town.

Speaking during a discussion in the Legislative Assembly regarding the issue, BJP’s Karkala MLA V Sunil Kumar said: “There has been a smear campaign for a few months to malign Dharmasthala. It looks like the government is sympathising. A group is conducting an organised conspiracy.”

Citing the DJ Halli – KG Halli controversy, Sunil said an MLA’s house and an entire police station was set on fire for a Facebook post defaming an important personality of a religion.

“At the time, Siddaramaiah, who was then the Leader of the Opposition, said that the post hurt religious sentiments and led to setting the police station on fire. How many posts have been put up now?? Why didn’t you feel the sentiments of crores hurt by misinformation  campaign about Dharmasthala??”

The Karkala MLA said the unidentified complaint/ mask man must be made to undergo a lie-detector test. “The digging has come to the base of the Bahubali Hill and next it will shake your government. The entire Cabinet should go to Dharmasthala and apologise.”

BJP’s Rajajinagar MLA S Suresh Kumar called the complainant the “most privileged man” and wondered why he wasn’t being kept with the SIT at night.

Claiming that the allegations were a “pre-planned conspiracy,” Leader of the Opposition Ashoka urged the government to reveal the identity of the masked man.