There were tense and acrimonious moments during BJP national president Amit Shah’s interaction with representatives of SC/ST leaders and activists over the party’s stance on the Constitution here on Friday.
The issue came to the fore when V. Srinivas Prasad, former Congress leader now with the BJP, urged Mr. Shah to clarify the BJP’s position with regard to the Constitution given the “loose talk” by some members of the party which, he said, had raised concern among Dalits.
In reply, Mr. Shah said the BJP had distanced itself from the views aired by Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegde, who had spoken of changing the Constitution, and it was his “personal opinion and not that of the BJP”. He tried to move on to the next question, but this did not satisfy a few members in the audience some of whom rose from their seats and aired their apprehensions again.
One of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti activists, Shivanna, and his supporters spoke in unison forcing Mr. Shah to cut short his interaction and plead with them to take their seats. This did not satisfy Mr. Shivanna who wanted Mr. Shah to clarify what action would be initiated against Mr. Hegde for his remarks.
As the decibel level rose, a few of the BJP functionaries, including BJP city unit president Manjunath, rushed to Mr. Shivanna and tried to calm him down, but to no avail. As tempers rose and the din increased, security personnel stepped in ushered out Mr. Shivanna, the TV crew and photographers, even as the activists continued to seek action against Mr. Hegde.
Outside the venue, Mr. Shivanna said the BJP cannot get away by distancing itself from the statements of Mr. Hegde as he continued to be a party member, an MP and a Minister. “The BJP should take action against him for his reckless remarks,” said Mr. Shivanna.
Congress accused
Speaking at Bengaluru, Shobha Karandlaje, general secretary, BJP, accused the Congress of engineering the disruption. She alleged that the commotion in BJP meet was a “desperate attempt by the Congress to disrupt the BJP programme.”
