The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to file a defamation suit against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for describing it and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as extremist organisations.
BJP spokesperson S. Prakash told The Hindu that the party would first file a police complaint against Mr. Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Dinesh Gundu Rao in Bengaluru on Friday. The defamation suit will be filed in a few days from now, he said.
The BJP State unit has decided to launch a ‘jail bharo’ programme from Friday across the State in protest against the remarks of the Chief Minister and Mr. Rao.
“We appeal to Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Dinesh Gundu Rao to arrest and put us in jail as they think that we are all terrorists. According to them, we need to be in jail and hence we are launching ‘jail bharo’ programme,” BJP State general secretary Shobha Karandlaje remarked sarcastically while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday.
She said BJP workers would court arrest in all the district headquarters as part of the protest.
Urging Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Rao to tender a public apology for their remarks, she threatened that the jail bharo protest would continue till they withdraw their remarks.
CM defends remarks
Mr. Siddaramaiah also defended his remarks that the BJP, RSS, VHP et al. were extremists and made light of the BJP’s protest against his statements.
On a whirlwind tour of the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar belt during a series of the party’s Sadhana Samaveshas, Mr. Siddaramaiah told media persons in M.M. Hills that those fanning communal passions were extremists and it was in this context that he had dubbed the BJP, RSS, and the like as Hindutva extremists.
Later, in a brief interaction with media persons at the Mysuru airport before leaving for Nanjangud, Mr. Siddaramaiah asked how else would one describe organisations if they indulge in politics over dead bodies.
“The government will crack down on anyone, be it the PFA, SDPI or other groups behaving in a diabolical manner in the name of religion. Anyone who rakes up communal issues to rupture social harmony and creates tension in the name of religion will not be tolerated,” he said.
