BENGALURU: The political circles may have ignored it all along, but Congress and JDS leaders have now begun criticizing the BJP’s strategy of letting caste and community leader do the talking when dealing with specific issues. Even when the BJP criticises or responds to a leader of the opposition camp, it resorts to using persons from the same caste or community to register their protest, Opposition leaders have
pointed out.
Giving examples, Congress leaders said that when Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba leader, is targeted, it is usually KS Eshwarappa, another Kuruba leader, who does so. Similarly, when KPCC president DK Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, is the target, ministers like R Ashoka and Dr CN Ashwath Narayana or BJP national general secretary CT Ravi, who are all Vokkaligas, lead the charge. The same is the case when the BJP hits out at JDS’ former CM HD Kumaraswamy or other leaders, they noted.
It was Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge who first highlighted this strategy of the ruling party. He criticised the BJP for its ‘caste politics’ when it comes to dealing with the Opposition. “When criticising leaders from other parties, it is always someone from the same caste group,” he stressed.
Former Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said, “It appears to be a well-thought-out strategy to hit those attacking them for acts of omission or commission where it hurts most — among members of their own community.”
Acknowledging this, JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy said, “This is their usual strategy. If anyone criticises the BJP or RSS, they deploy leaders from the same caste or community to hit back. I have seen this from 2008-9 when I made corruption allegations against the BJP. Often, their strategy is never to address the subject, but they speak about something else in order to defame the person. The attack is ad hominem.’’
JDS deputy leader in the Assembly, Bandeppa Kashempur, said, “I believe that a person’s political stature, not caste, is important when you speak about a leader from another party.”