In a ceremony that resembled a Sangh Parivar function, Hemanath Shetty, the Block Congress Committee president of Puttur town near Mangaluru, wore a saffron shawl and was surrounded by religious leaders chanting hymns, when he launched an outfit called the Bharatiya Hindu Parishat (BHP) on Wednesday.
While Mr. Shetty claimed his outfit was not connected to the Congress, he said it was “meant to promote the true Hindu spirit” when politicians and spiritual leaders have vitiated the atmosphere.
Despite enormous publicity for the event, there was neither strong criticism nor objections to the event from the top State Congress leaders. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, when asked about it only said, “The party represents Hindus as well as other sections of society” and “it is committed to secularism”.
Former Union Minister B. Janardhana Poojary, who had earlier said the launch would be “suicidal” for the party, refused to comment on it on Wednesday. In-charge president of Dakshina Kannada Congress unit Ibrahim Kodijal said action would be initiated only after consulting the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
The launch of the BHP comes in the backdrop of “core ideological questions” being raised among top Congress leaders, and fears raised by a section of the party that it may be perceived as “anti-Hindu”, said a senior leader who did not want to be quoted.
In fact, a few days ago, the AICC had written to the KPCC asking it to provide its opinion on whether the party needed ideological changes to mobilise youth and other sections of society to the party. KPCC chief G. Parameshwara said a three-day meeting is being organised from January 29 to elicit views of MPs, Ministers, MLAs/MLCs and district Congress presidents on the changes required in the party’s ideology, and other issues.
Interestingly, Union Minister for Law and Justice D.V. Sadananda Gowda hails from Puttur, and it has been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party since the early 1990s and has a strong RSS presence. The only voice of dissent to the launch in the Congress came from former president of the Puttur Block Congress, Sudhakar Shetty, who asked for the high command to send out a clear message against such events.