BENGALURU: Clearly agitated with talks of separate statehood for North Karnataka, netizens have taken to social media to counter the August 2 bandh called by select organisations from the region. Citizens active on Twitter have been tweeting in support of a united Karnataka with #KarnatakaVonde since Thursday. The hashtag saw a sudden spike on Friday following Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sriramulu’s statements supporting the movement demanding separate statehood.
Online anger over the matter is building against the BJP, especially after leaders like Umesh Katti and Sriramulu have backed the agitation publicly. Netizens, especially those handles that have actively taken part in campaigns for dubbing rights in Kannada, anti-Hindi imposition etc, have come together to press for a united Karnataka holding BJP and RSS wholly responsible for fanning the separatist sentiment.
“Name one MLA or MP who spoke on Mahadayi solution except Konareddi. 28 MPs didnt do a thing against 2 MP GOA state. So wat wil 12-13 MPs achiev frm a separate state. Luk at AP strugglin to pay gov salaries. Separation means less power and less say in the parliament. #KarnatakaVonde(SIC)” read one of the tweets.
The anger against BJP, especially after Sriramulu’s statements was clear. “Mr @narendramodi @AmitShah @BSYBJP this person @sriramulubjp is dividing the KA for the sake of votes. Some1 tried 2 divide d religion n everybody knew what happened 2 them. The same fate will happen to ur party ppl also if u try 2 divide us #KarnatakaVonde (SIC),” read a tweet directly attacking Sriramulu. Many others with the same hashtag accused the Sangh parivar of trying to divide Karnataka and BJP of supporting it for political gains.