BENGALURU: The political fight between the oppositon BJP and the ruling Congress in the state has taken a communal colour ahead of the Assembly election in the state with the former accusing the Siddarmaiah government of going soft on radical elements in the Muslim community. “Congress and the Siddaramaiah government are supporting narrow, sectarian and fanatical elements in the Muslim community as part of their vote bank politics. The state government’s soft approach has led to the recruitment of youths from the state to international jihadi war,” BJP national general secretary in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, Muralidhara Rao said here on Tuesday.
Rao alleged that Siddaramaiah government’s reckless support for radical elements in the Muslim community had created a security threat for the country. He said the BJP will fight against this brand of “divisive politics,” adding that the party had been a victim of such radicalisation.
Referring to the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, Rao said BJP had always condemned such killings including the murders of Narendra Dabholkar and M M Kalburgi. Such killings have become the order of the day in Karnataka and the state government has not taken any steps to bring the culprits to justice, he said. BJP too has been a victim of this, he added. The controversy comes in the wake of BJP state unit president B S Yeddyurappa terming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah anti-Hindu on Monday.
‘Rahul maligning us’
Rao attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his statement suggesting that RSS and BJP sympathisers had been behind journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing. “Rahul is creating a smoke screen. It is a blatant attempt to influence and change the direction of investigation,” Rao said. Rahul Gandhi is indulging in political mischief to malign BJP by not allowing a professional investigation into Gauri’s killing, he added.