Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council B.K. Hariprasad said the upcoming Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections will be a fight between ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, represented by the Congress, and his assassin Nathuram Godse, represented by the ruling BJP.
Speaking at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bengaluru on January 20, Mr Hariprasad claimed that the Congress has represented communal harmony and peace while the BJP has been advocating communal hatred and divisive politics. The BJP has been following the principles of Nathuram Godse and appealing to families to keep swords in their homes. “We are giving children pens and pencils to have education, but BJP leaders are giving knives and talwar (sword),” he said.
“The voters of Karnataka have to choose between Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of love, peace and harmony, and Godse’s ideals of fear and hatred,” Mr Hariprasad said.
“I know the jataka (horoscope) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah before they became active in politics. I know their social, economic and political backgrounds. They spew venom and indulge in politics of vengeance,” said Mr Hariprasad, who had lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election against Tejasvi Surya (BJP) in Bengaluru South constituency.
PM visited Hubballi, Yadgir and Kalaburagi in a span of less than 10 days
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader said that the former was embarked on ‘political tourism’ of Karnataka ahead of the Assembly elections. Mr Modi spent 28 days in Gujarat for the election campaign. Now, Mr Modi has started visiting Karnataka frequently. Mr Modi visited Hubballi, Yadgir and Kalaburagi in a span of less than 10 days.
“The BJP has nothing to showcase before the voters of Karnataka. BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel has been asking his party workers to speak on issues such as hijab, halal, ghar wapsi, love jihad, communal hatredness to fetch votes and divert attention of the people from real issues,” the Congress leader said.
‘CM went to house of Praveen Nettaru, but not Masood’s’
Asked about differences between former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, he said, “The coming elections is a question of survival for both leaders.”
On former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s remarks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised BJP leaders to make prompt efforts to take Muslims into confidence, Mr Hariprasad said, “Modi spews only violence and communalism.”
The former Congress MP alleged that doing politics in the name of religion is the BJP’s political strategy. “When elections are near, they do politics in the name of religion. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai went to Praveen Nettaru’s house and not to Masood’s house in Mangaluru. This is BJP’s political strategy,” he said.
