BENGALURU/MYSURU: As the Congress called for a massive demonstration in Bengaluru on Wednesday to protest against former minister DK Shivakumar’s arrest, BJP ministers, especially those from the Vokkaliga community, have hit back at the opposition party for trying to make it a caste issue.
“The Enforcement Directorate arrested D K Shivakumar in a money laundering case. It’s a shame that Congress is trying to make it a caste issue. BJP and the Centre have no role in Shivakumar’s arrest — the agencies are working as per the Constitution,” said Revenue Minister R Ashoka.
Another prominent Vokkaliga leader Dr C N Ashwath Narayana too hit back at the Congress. “Cutting across caste and communities, we all must fight for a corruption-free society,” the DyCM said. In Mysuru, Tourism Minister C T Ravi appealed to Vokkaliga community leaders to think realistically instead of treating Shivakumar’s arrest as an emotional issue. “Vokkaliga leaders should see the issue in a realistic way to understand the truth behind it, and should not see it as an attack on Vokkaligas,” he told reporters.
“Congress leaders always speak about the Constitution, but whenever an investigation is ordered by constitutional bodies against bribery charges, they resist it,” said the minister. On the allegations of vendetta politics by the Congress, Ravi said, “Only those who are corrupt will be worried about investigations,” he said.