H D Kumaraswamy smells a rat; Congress says ‘bad news’ for BJP

The Opposition Congress and JD(S) took potshots at the ruling BJP after a Hindu man surrendered before the police confessing that he planted the bomb at the Mangaluru International Airport.

Slamming the ruling party, former JD(S) chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said the entire incident looked suspicious.

“While the chief minister is in Davos wooing investors, the BJP’s actions are portraying Mangaluru as a communal city. How will this help attract investments?” he asked, suspecting foul play.

“Media reports state that the accused is an engineer and was trying to secure a job at the Mangaluru airport. Today, unemployment is a huge problem. I want to highlight this point to the attention of both the Home Minister and the Prime Minister of this country,” he said.

He said the BJP was misleading media with regard to these incidents and was also choking the freedom of
officials to function independently.

“Why does the BJP talk so much about Pakistan? Why can’t the party talk about India?” Kumaraswamy asked, adding that the CAA was only adding to the existing problems faced by the
country.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao said it was “bad news” for the BJP that the Mangaluru bomber is Hindu.

“If it was someone else, then things would have been different. Because it is Rao, no one is saying anything. Maybe, the BJP Bhakts are unhappy. If it were a Muslim, they would have cashed in on,” he said.

Rao recalled killings of rationalist MM Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh. “When the involvement of some Hindu right-wing groups came out, the BJP defended it,” Rao said.