<p>Taking a dig at Congress government for tabling the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill 2014, Siddaganga Mutt pontiff</p>.<p>.<br /><br />Dr Shivakumara Swami said that even the British had not done such a thing and in fact had encouraged the mutts.<br /><br />He was speaking to a group of BJP leaders who met him here on Wednesday. Party State president Pralhad Joshi, who was also part of the group, had sought seer’s support in fight against the amendment bill. The pontiff reportedly supported the party’s decision to oppose the bill.<br /><br />Later speaking to mediapersons, Joshi said that they would meet pontiffs of some of the major mutts in the State like Adichunchanagiri, Chitradurga, Suttur, Kaaginele and Murusavira Mutt to garner support for the cause.<br /><br />Though the newspapers have reported that the government was withdrawing the bill owing to the widespread protest, the news has been planted by the government itself, he added.<br /><br />“If the reports are true, let chief minister or law minister give a statement in this regard,” Joshi said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is bring the amendments to please Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and to blackmail the pontiffs, he said and even dared the chief minister to pass the bill.<br /><br />Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar said that it was a practice that prior to the tabling of the bill, the Speaker informs the house about the bill. However, this time it was not done and the bill was secretly tabled on the last day of Assembly session in Belagavi, he added.<br /><br />He compared the Congress rule to Tughlaq rule and said that the government had planned to bring anti-superstition law, law against lavish weddings and others but till today had not implemented even one.<br /><br />The government is trying to control only Hindu religious institutions while there is no reference to mosques or churches in the bill, Shettar added.<br /></p>
<p>Taking a dig at Congress government for tabling the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill 2014, Siddaganga Mutt pontiff</p>.<p>.<br /><br />Dr Shivakumara Swami said that even the British had not done such a thing and in fact had encouraged the mutts.<br /><br />He was speaking to a group of BJP leaders who met him here on Wednesday. Party State president Pralhad Joshi, who was also part of the group, had sought seer’s support in fight against the amendment bill. The pontiff reportedly supported the party’s decision to oppose the bill.<br /><br />Later speaking to mediapersons, Joshi said that they would meet pontiffs of some of the major mutts in the State like Adichunchanagiri, Chitradurga, Suttur, Kaaginele and Murusavira Mutt to garner support for the cause.<br /><br />Though the newspapers have reported that the government was withdrawing the bill owing to the widespread protest, the news has been planted by the government itself, he added.<br /><br />“If the reports are true, let chief minister or law minister give a statement in this regard,” Joshi said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is bring the amendments to please Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and to blackmail the pontiffs, he said and even dared the chief minister to pass the bill.<br /><br />Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar said that it was a practice that prior to the tabling of the bill, the Speaker informs the house about the bill. However, this time it was not done and the bill was secretly tabled on the last day of Assembly session in Belagavi, he added.<br /><br />He compared the Congress rule to Tughlaq rule and said that the government had planned to bring anti-superstition law, law against lavish weddings and others but till today had not implemented even one.<br /><br />The government is trying to control only Hindu religious institutions while there is no reference to mosques or churches in the bill, Shettar added.<br /></p>
