Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar says that the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is giving silent support to Hindutva organizations raising communal issues in the hope of electoral gains. However, he believes that the saffron party will not get a result like UP here.
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How do you see the chain of events polarizing in Karnataka and the government’s response?
BJP leaders are raising some or the other communal issue day by day to hide the failures of the government. The government has no achievements to show in front of the public. He started with the issue of the hijab and continued to ban Muslim traders from setting up shops in the premises of Hindu temples. Now, they started boycotting Halal meat and demanded removal of loudspeakers from mosques. Thereafter, he raised the issue of mango trading to target Muslim traders. BJP leaders are giving tacit support to Hindutva organizations to divert people’s attention from real issues like unemployment and rise in prices of fuel, cooking gas and other daily items. Unemployment and inflation have no religion.
Congress is saying that these developments are for the purpose of elections next year. Do you believe that the BJP is expecting a result like UP and how do you think the voters of Karnataka will react?
I don’t think Uttar Pradesh results will come again in Karnataka. Our state is completely different. People of Karnataka are peace loving. BJP is spreading lies.
If you think Karnataka will not react like UP, what are your reasons for believing?
People here want communal harmony and peace. Businessmen and others from other countries first come to Bangalore and then go to other places in the country. Bengaluru is attracting investments from various countries. Fortune India 500 companies are operating from Bangalore. Patients from different countries come to Bangalore for treatment. Our socio-economic culture is totally different than that of UP. Karnataka cannot be compared with UP.
What is the Congress’s specific plan to counter it both electorally and socially?
Congress unites people, while BJP divides. The Congress will expose the failures of the BJP government by holding protests and rallies across the state. We are protesting against inflation on 11th April at Freedom Park, Bengaluru.
The Congress often seems to be confused in its response to these incidents. Is there a fear of the party being labeled “anti-Hindu”?
I do not think so. We are countering BJP’s propaganda in different forms. BJP leaders are raising communal issues, we are raising issues related to people’s problems.