Basavaraj Bommai
A day after Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah questioned the roots of founders of the RSS, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday asked the Congress leader to specify whether he was a Dravidian or Aryan.
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"Let Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah first declare whether he is a Dravidian or Aryan", Mr. Bommai said while speaking to mediapersons on Saturday.
Responding to this later in the day, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Of course, I am a Dravidian, a native of this land.” He further said that Aryans being migrants to India from Central Asia was a fact of history that cannot be disputed.
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On Friday, Mr. Siddaramaiah had wondered if the founding fathers of the RSS, the BJP’s ideological parent, were native Indians.
Challenge to RSS
Continuing his attack on RSS in a series of 12 tweets on Saturday, Mr. Siddaramaiah sought to know why RSS, “which talks like the sole defender of Hinduism” supports only one politically party, that is the BJP. “Are only those in BJP Hindus?” he asked.
In another tweet he sought to know the status of Dalits and backward classes in the organisations and what the qualification was to be a “Hindu as per the RSS” and if it did not include a belief in the principles of social justice. He challenged the RSS to shun “remote control politics” and enter the electoral fray directly.
On Nehru
The Chief Minister, replying to a question on Mr. Siddaramaiah's comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot be compared to former Prime Minister Nehru, the Chief Minister said, "Yes it is true. Modi cannot be compared to Nehru because Nehru failed to take any tough action when China attacked India and the country lost a chunk of its territory to China. But Modi stood strong and acted tough when China tried to violate Indian borders... He certainly cannot be compared with Nehru".