BENGALURU: Senior Congress MLC BK Hariprasad on Sunday hit out at the BJP and RSS saying that it was “ridiculous” for them to preach about patriotism when in the past they have opposed the country’s national flag and the Constitution.
Addressing the media in Bengaluru, Hariprasad said that the Congress will launch a series of protests against Union Minister Amit Shah for his recent remarks on Dr BR Ambedkar from Monday from Mysuru.
Demanding an apology from Shah, Hariprasad said the former’s statement was of “low-level” and “condemnable”, only reflecting the RSS’ “long-standing intolerance” towards Dr Ambedkar and the Constitution. “It is the hidden agenda of the RSS to change the Constitution,” the Congress leader said, accusing the RSS of opposing the Constitution, the national flag and the reservation system.
Hariprasad also criticised the BJP’s attempts to divert attention from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s demand for a caste census by making anti-Ambedkar statements. He said that the Congress would continue to fight for to protect the Constitution and Dr Ambedkar’s legacy.
Furthermore, Hariprasad accused the Sangh Parivar of spreading misinformation and being “addicts and perverts”.
Replying to Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s statement that the Congress allegedly tried to subject MLC C T Ravi to a fake encounter, Hariprasad said that Shah was known for such acts and was sent in exile from Gujarat in the past. “Joshi is an ilk of Amit Shah and the former uttered what the latter had taught him,” Hariprasad said.
“BJP’s intentions are clear — to align themselves with the upper caste and disregard the development of Dalits, backward classes and minorities,” he said, adding that Shah’s statement was not a spontaneous outburst, but a deliberate and calculated move.
Sarangi a murderer, says Hariprasad Hariprasad questioned the integrity of former union minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi who had alleged that Rahul Gandhi had assaulted him.
“He (Sarangi) apparently looks like a saint by his attire but was the murderer of Australian Christian Missionary Graham Staines and two of his minor children in 1999. He was the Bajrang Dal chief when its activists executed the murder by setting Staines’ four-wheeler on fire but escaped punishment owing to lack of evidence. Another culprit Dharasingh, whom senior BJP leader LK Advani termed as an innocent, was given capital punishment by the court which was converted to life term imprisonment,” Hariprasad claimed.