Cong. criticises BJP’s ‘conspiracy’ against Siddaramaiah

Former CM’s statement ‘deliberately twisted’ to mislead Dalit community

The Congress held a demonstration in Mysuru on Saturday to criticise the BJP for allegedly conspiring against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by misrepresenting his remarks on Dalits and misleading the community.

Party leaders gathered in front of B.R. Ambedkar’s statue at Town Hall under the leadership of Working President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) R. Dhruvanarayan and shouted slogans criticising the BJP while hailing Mr. Siddaramaiah for the welfare programmes he implemented for the Dalits during his tenure at the helm.

Earlier, Mr. Dhruvanarayan, who is also a former MP representing Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, told reporters that Mr. Siddaramaiah, while addressing a meeting of Madiga community members during the campaign for by-elections in Sindagi recently, had said that a few Dalit leaders had joined the BJP to serve their selfish ends. But, this statement had been “deliberately twisted” by the BJP to mislead the Dalit community.

The BJP leaders were conspiring against Mr. Siddaramaiah in an effort to bring disrepute to him for political reasons, said Mr. Dhruvanarayan while pointing out that the former Chief Minister had also sought to know why the Dalit leaders in the BJP did not speak out when the saffron party leaders including Ananthkumar Hegde talked about amending the Constitution.

The KPCC Working President said the Dalit community was aware about the conspiracy hatched by the BJP to mislead it. The BJP, he said, was trying to divide the community that stood by the Congress and the efforts to misrepresent Mr. Siddaramaiah’s statement was part of its design to tarnish the Congress leader’s fair name.

Mr. Dhruvanarayan said that Mr. Siddaramaiah’s contributions to the Dalit community during his tenure as Chief Minister could well make it to the history books. “The BJP has no right to talk against Mr .Siddarmaiah”, he said while accusing the saffron party leaders of being ‘subservient’ to the diktat of RSS.

If the BJP had concern for Dalits, he said the party’s government should implement programmes for the community’s welfare.

KPCC spokesperson H.A. Venkatesh, in a statement, said the BJP was only trying to mislead the Dalit community against Mr. Siddaramaiah for political reasons. The party had not concern for Dalits or social justice, he said while asking the saffron party to name even a single programme for Dalits it had implemented during its tenure.

A large number of Congress leaders including Dharmasena, MLC; former MLAs Vasu and M.K. Somashekar; and former Chairman of Karnataka State Bhovi Development Corporation G.V. Seetharam were present during the demonstration.

Source: Read Full Article