BENGALURU: JDS senior leader HD Kumaraswamy stoked a controversy on Sunday, saying, “Those who killed Mahatma Gandhi are from RSS and they are Brahmins. They are not like our traditional Karnataka Brahmins. There are two or three different types of Brahmins. In those times, we used to reverentially fall at the feet of traditional Brahmins as they believed in Sarve Jana Sukhinobhavantu -- the happiness of all people. But these Brahmins are not them.”
At the JDS Pancharathna Yatra at Dasarahalli in north Bengaluru, he said no one should fall victim to BJP ploys. “If BJP wins, the Sangh Parivar, which is the backbone of BJP, has decided to make Union Fertiliser Minister Pralhad Joshi, a descendant of the Maratha Peshwa community, chief minister. He is not like the Brahmins of our earlier times whom we used to revere.
These are the kind that drove the descendants of the great social reformer, Shankaracharya, out of Sringeri Shankara Mutt. It is the same community that assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. They have decided to have around eight deputy chief ministers. If necessary, I can disclose the names of the eight persons. If BJP comes to power, it will ruin our state.”
He said the JDS Pancharathna Yatra and the people’s response have worried Joshi and made him nervous. “Joshi is trying to belittle the Pancharathna Yatra and it is not in good taste.” The yatra will be carried out in Bengaluru, Hassan Mysuru and different areas till the last week of March, he added.
Hitting back at Kumaraswamy, BJP General Secretary and MLC Ravi Kumar said, “He is a shining example of selfishness, hypocrisy and favouritism. BJP condemns derogatory remarks against Pralhad Joshi. Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Ranade and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were at the forefront of freedom struggle and all of them were Brahmins.’’ He asked JDS, “Who will be your chief ministerial candidate,” implying that it would be someone from the JDS first family.
He claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled that RSS had no role in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, but gave no reference to back his statement. Responding to Kumaraswamy’s comments, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in New Delhi, “It is important to talk about what the party and its programmes can achieve. Personal talk is not relevant.” He said, “Kumaraswamy doesn’t have to worry about our party. Let him first correct his own party. People don’t see a person as belonging to the Brahmin caste.”