CHIKKAMAGALURU: Even as the murder of BJP youth leader Praveen Nettaru has cast a dark shadow over the Basavaraj Bommai government, the opposition Congress is trying to cash in on the dissatisfaction among BJP workers who are up in arms against their own party.
The Congress received a shot in the arm in targeting the BJP after a video went viral on social media purportedly of BJP national Yuva Morcha president Tejaswi Surya telling the party’s district president that if there was a Congress government in the state, “stones would have been pelted. But unfortunately, as it is their own government, the issue should not be allowed to blow up and should be settled within the party circle”.
District Congress spokesperson Hiremagaluru Puttaswamy criticised Tejaswi remarks and said the party will file a case against him. Praveen murder has also deeply upset BJP workers and Sangh Parivar members in Chikkamagaluru, which is close to the coastal region. There is wide condemnation of the BJP in social media too.
Close on the heels of the district BJP Yuva Morcha president and 30 other office-bearers tendering their resignation, the BJP Kalasa taluk Mahila Morcha secretary, Kalasa Yuva Morcha Unit president and BJP Zilla Madhyama Vibhag Pramuksh Preetam Hebbar resigned on Thursday.
Sources also said the BJP high command is mulling to change the Home Minister, which is held by Araga Jnanendra, and entrust the post to former Minister KS Eshwrappa after the cabinet rejig as a measure of damage control since elections are round the corner. Meanwhile, the Bajrang Dal and other forums have called for a bandh in Kalasa and Koppa on Friday.
KUMARASWAMY HITS OUT AT MP
Mysuru: Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy came down heavily on Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya over his recent remarks after the murder of Praveen Nettaru. Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, the former chief minister said Surya had asked if the government can provide security for each and every common man.
“We are not asking for a gunman for every citizen, but demanding good administration and proper law and order.”
During the 2016 Uttar Pradesh elections, the Muzzafarnagar incident claimed lives of many following which the BJP assumed power, he said and alleged that by sowing hatred, the BJP tries to assume power whenever possible.