Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had a “dailogue on Hindu religion and culture” at Sri Rama Vittala Hall on Pejawar Mutt premises in Udupi on Tuesday.
Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt, Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Palimar Mutt and about 15 seers from different parts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada participated in the dialogue.
The press was not allowed to cover the dialogue. After the meeting, speaking to presspersons, Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt said that he had told Mr. Shah that all communities should be treated equally.
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There should not be any favouritism. Programmes such as Shadi Bhagya and the control of mutts were not desirable, he said.
There should not be one policy for the majority community and another for the minority community. Both the majority and minority communities should be treated equally, he said.
Yet another suggestion given by him was to resolve the Mahadayi river dispute out of court. He said that the Union government should take the initiative to resolve the dispute. If the Congress failed to respond, it would have to take the blame, the seer said.
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The seer said that he gave his suggestions to all the parties. “Even if AICC president Rahul Gandhi comes here tomorrow, I will give him my suggestions. But it is up to the political parties to either accept or reject them,” he said.
Asked if the issues of Ram Temple or anti-cow slaughter came up for discussion, the seer said that these issues were not discussed due to lack of time.
Besides the 15 seers, Nalin Kateel, Shobha Karandlaje, MPs, V. Sunil Kumar, MLC, Santosh, Mattar Ratnakar Hegde, T.V. Hegde, and other BJP leaders, were present during the dialogue.