I walked out of Rahul Gandhi's meeting, says pro-Kannada activist

Pro-Kannada activist Arun Javagal said Saturday he walked out of an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi because the organisers would not allow him to raise issues such as Hindi imposition.

Rahul has been holding interactions on the sidelines of the Bharat Jodo march, which entered Karnataka on Friday.

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"I got a call to participate in an interaction with Rahul Gandhi. I went to the meeting near Nanjangud having made some preparation to know the Congress' stand on federalism, Hindi imposition and the 2026 delimitation," Javagal, the state organisation secretary of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), said in a series of tweets.

"Before the meeting, Congress' Sasikanth Senthil asked 10-15 people who had come for the meeting what subjects they'd talk about. I informed him that I'd talk about federalism, Hindi imposition and the 2026 delimitation," he said. Senthil, a former IAS officer, heads the Karnataka Congress war room.

Javagal said he walked out after it became clear that his subjects would not find time. "Only those who spoke about the politics of RSS and BJP were allowed. No other speaker with a different subject got an opportunity. In between the meeting, after Senthil said I'd not get an opportunity, I walked out," Javagal said.

"All they wanted was to oppose the RSS/BJP. It was clear that the organisers do not want federalism to survive, for Hindi imposition to end and for the rights of states to be protected after the 2026 delimitation," Javagal said.

Karnataka Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal denied Javagal's complaint. "None of the tribals who met (Rahul) yesterday had any political affiliations. The artists who met him today also did not speak about politics. (Senthil) has been given responsibility to ensure that the voiceless are heard, that exactly what is happening," she said in a tweet.

Javagal's tweets resulted in netizens expressed views for and against him.