Don’t target Dharmasthala under garb of probe: BJP

BJP leaders on Friday alleged that the Congress, having come under the influence of Communist ideology, was seeking to malign the image of the Dharmasthala temple.  

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy and former Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, interacting with journalists at the Karnataka BJP headquarters in Bengaluru, voiced their disapproval of the government’s management of the entire affair.

Chalavadi demanded the immediate arrest of the ‘masked man’, the revelations of whom set the media abuzz and ultimately prompted the state government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of scores of bodies buried in the temple town. The LoP said that the ‘masked man’, far from assisting the SIT, was actually directing the investigation.

“He is even claiming to have been involved in multiple instances of murder and rape,” said Chalavadi, demanding that the government disclose the identity of the masked man.  

Ashwath Narayan, meanwhile, made it clear that the BJP was not opposed to the SIT probe into reports of mysterious deaths in Dharmasthala.

“But under the garb of a probe, Dharmasthala, the temple or the Dharmadhikari of the shrine must not be targeted,” he said.

A day after Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar voiced his doubts about allegations of ‘mass burials’ at Dharmasthala, Ashwath Narayan on Friday urged the former to order a probe into those involved in the conspiracy to tarnish the image of the temple town. He also questioned the Home Department’s inaction against those uploading provocative posts about Dharmasthala on social media.

“In Dakshina Kannada, posts by BJP supporters result in suo motu cases being filed, but no action taken against those attacking Dharmasthala and its Dharmadhikari,” said the former Deputy CM. He also criticised social media influencers and YouTubers for offering one-sided facts on the case.

“This is deeply hurtful to the devotees of Lord Manjunatheshwara,” said Ashwath Narayan.