The BJP Government in Karnataka on Monday came under severe criticism from various quarters over the Mangalore pub incident,even as the saffron party claimed that its members were not involved in the incident and promised appropriate action against the culprits. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda blamed the BJP for the rising rowdyism of Sangh Parivar elements in the state. Unlike H D Kumaraswamy,present Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa lacks the will to check Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sene elements who are beating,bullying and intimidating people, he said. Mangalore and its neighbouring areas,according to the JD(S) leader,have always been communally sensitive. Even a small incident can trigger a riot. It is a pity that Yeddyyurappa has turned a blind eye to everything,including a boastful confession by a Sene leader that his men had attacked guests at a Mangalore pub, he said. The shamelessness of the Sene leader and Yeddyurappas inaction are both deplorable, he added. The former prime minister said Sene and Bajrang Dal elements had been emboldened by the failure of the BJP Government to book them for attacks on churches last year. Had it been a JD(S) regime,they would have been sternly dealt with, he said. Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan also blamed the BJP-led Government for the incident,calling it a state-sponsored one and added that wherever the party was in power,such incidents take place. This is a criminal negligence on the part of the state Government. They are not discharging their constitutional responsibility, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said. The people in the pub were not doing anything which is not allowed under the provisions of law. The pub operates under a license, he added.
