BJP fact-finding team blames Congress for Bengaluru riots

Former minister Aravind Limbavali, who is a member of the BJP’s fact-finding committee looking into the Pulakeshinagar riots, squarely blamed the Congress for the violence after visiting the riot-hit areas on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Limbavali charged that the Congress, along with SDPI, was behind the incident.

“We will gather more details. However, at the outset, this mainly seems like the handiwork of Congress supported by SDPI. I am willing to stand as a witness in this case. We saw how badly MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s house was damaged by the mob. What would have been the plight if the legislator was at home when this incident occurred?” Limbavali remarked, adding that the delegation would send a report to the Centre and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the incident.

Going by their initial enquiry of people in the locality, the incident seemed premeditated, he said. “This was an organised attack on the MLA and his supporters. The culprits made it difficult for the police and the fire brigade to reach the venue. This does not seem like an accidental flare up of events. If there were 8,000-10,000 people gathered at the venue, allegedly agitated by a Facebook post, one cannot but wonder if it was planned. One has to find out whether this is the inner politics of Congress or the party’s atrocities against Dalits,” Limbavali said.

Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan, who was also part of the delegation, assured that action would be taken against the culprits. “On one hand, the mob was attacking the MLA’s house and on the other, the same people had formed a chain around a temple for its protection. This tells us that the whole thing was planned earlier,” he said.

Earlier in the week, a fact-finding team of the Congress pointed fingers at “police inaction and intelligence failure” for the violence.

‘Why delegation?’

Meanwhile, former Congress minister Priyank Kharge sought clarity from the state government as to why a separate delegation of BJP leaders was sent to the riot-hit areas. “Does the BJP not trust its own government and the Home department? Or does the party want to include its stance on the incident along with the police report? Is this a ploy by the leadership to make B S Yediyurappa uncomfortable?” Kharge tweeted.