Bengaluru: In the aftermath of two heavyweight BJP leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi quitting the party and joining Congress to get themselves a ticket, the Congress raised the bogey of BJP being anti-Lingayat.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah went to the extent of saying that the BJP also humiliated former chief minister BS Yediyurappa for “sidelining” him from the party.
However, Karnataka Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai and Yediyurappa have been vehemently smothering the narrative of the Congress.
Not far off from it was Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijeyendra who is making his electoral debut from Shikaripura constituency. He flayed Congress for creating a divide in the Lingayat community by trying to give separate religion status.
This move was vehemently opposed by Mathadipatis and Lingayat community, alleging that Siddaramaiah-led government tried to divide the community to gain electoral dividends after surveys showed Congress losing the 2018 assembly election, Vijayendra said.
In fact the Congress lost the election as its tally was reduced to 70-odd seats from 122 in the 2013 assembly election. BJP had emerged the single largest party with 104 seats in the last election.
“People know who has cheated Lingayats. Everyone knows it is the Congress. So, I am confident that all communities including the Lingayats will support BJP and Narendra Modi ji,” Vijayendra said.
“Dividing Lingayats is nothing new for the Congress. During Siddaramaiah’s rule, everyone was confident of Congress returning to power, but once it realised that it was not winning, because of Yediyurappa and BJP’s leadership. The Siddaramaiah government then tried to divide Lingayats by trying to give separate religious status to the community. Congress can stoop to any level,” he alleged.
Joining the argument, Bommai said people have not forgotten the divide-and-rule policy of the Congress, but the Lingayat community have been vigilant and took right decisions when required.
Referring to defected leaders including Shettar and Savadi, Bommai said it will not have any impact on the electoral prospects of the BJP. “BJP will get more seats than in the 2018 election,” he added.
Meanwhile, BJP National President JP Nadda on Tuesday slammed the Congress saying that the party that divided the country for seven decades is now itself divided.
“In the 70 years of Congress (rule) there was division, division, division and only division. Divide society as much as you can – north-south, language, caste, creed, religion. The fact is, by dividing and dividing, they themselves are divided now. BJP is unity in diversity,” he said.
Nadda, who is on Karnataka visit, accused Congress and Siddaramaiah of being a patron of PFI. “Former CM Siddaramaiah withdrew cases against PFI, released 1,700 PFI activists from jail. Siddaramaiah is their patron…,” he said in Hubballi.
The Centre banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) in September last year.
Shettar’s resignation from BJP and his joining Congress has made Hubballi-Dharwad Central a key battle in the assembly polls.
Shettar, a six-time MLA, represented the seat in the outgoing assembly and was keen to be given a ticket from the constituency.
