'Siddaramaiah allergic to Hindus': Karnataka BJP backs seer, warns Congress of Vokkaliga backlash

Bengaluru: The BJP on Friday came out in support of Vokkaliga pontiff Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami after he was booked by the police for his statement on disenfranchising Muslims, for which he later expressed regret.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka and former deputy chief minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan -- the BJP’s Vokkaliga faces -- met the seer and expressed solidarity.

“If the government touches the seer, the entire Vokkaliga community will hit back,” Ashoka warned and lashed out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

“Siddaramaiah is allergic to Hindus. He gets cases filed against them so as to intimidate them. The seer has already apologised. Still, a case was filed. This amounts to insulting the (Vokkaliga) community,” he charged.

Ashoka said no action was taken against AIMIM leader Asadduddin Owaisi and an Andhra Pradesh cleric who threatened the government. “Some people say they won’t care for the Supreme Court’s orders. No action is taken against those who raised pro-Pakistan slogans,” he said.

On November 26, Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami called for disenfranchisement of Muslims in order to end votebank politics in India. He said this at a protest meeting against farmers' lands being marked as Waqf properties. The next day, the seer expressed regret over his statement.

“A sincere attempt was made (by the seer) towards strengthening harmony by issuing an appropriate clarification over his controversial statement. The matter could have ended there, but the Congress government ensured that a complaint was filed against him, which is low-level politics,” BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said.

“It is ironic that a government, which withdraws cases against anti-social and anti-national elements, is treating a slip-of-the-tongue by a gentleman saint as a criminal offence,” Vijayendra said.

'Vendetta politics'

The BJP also slammed the Siddaramaiah administration for “vendetta politics” after the Cabinet decided to revive a corruption case against former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

"Karnataka has never seen such a hateful government," Ashoka said.

"After one-and-a-half years in power, the Congress remembered Yediyurappa's case now because CM Siddaramaiah is caught in the MUDA scam and one minister had to resign in the Valmiki corporation embezzlement," Ashoka said.

Ashoka said the Governor's office had rejected the request to sanction investigation against Yediyurappa in 2021. "Siddaramaiah when the leader of the opposition. Why was he quiet then? Congress could've moved court. They didn't. Maybe they wanted their constituency works done by Yediyurappa," he said.