Continuing his tirade against not inviting former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to the unveiling ceremony of statue of Bengaluru founder Kempe Gowda, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday said that it was the duty of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai or Chief Secretary Vanditha Sharma to respond to violation of the protocol and not the BJP.
“The BJP is twisting facts after Janata Dal (Secular) took objection. This was not a programme organised by Keshava Krupa (RSS State office). Spreading lies is the culture of the BJP that started Operation Kamala,” Mr. Kumaraswamy tweeted.
He said that the JD(S) has never used Mr. Gowda for caste politics. The media has already reported the aim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s half day visit to Bengaluru, he said in an obvious reference to reports that Mr. Modi tried to woo different communities during his Bengaluru visit.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said: “The BJP has been portraying our questioning of ignoring Mr. Gowda as a crime. Let us also see how many times the Prime Minister will keep coming to Karnataka in the next six months.“
It may be noted that the BJP not extending invitation to leaders from the Opposition parties for the unveiling ceremony of Kempe Gowda’s statue has not gone well with the Opposition, particularly the JD(S) as its stronghold is in the areas dominated by Vokkaliga community to which the iconic Kempe Gowda belongs.
