After participating in the Eid al-Adha prayers with Muslims on Thursday morning, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: "I have wished all Muslims on the occasion of Bakrid (Eid al-Adha). I have prayed as well that people should live as human beings in society and that there is peace and harmony and love among people." In keeping with his practice that he has followed for several years, Siddaramaiah participated in the Eid mass prayers, dressed like a Muslim, at the Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru despite a thinking in a Congress section in recent times that such an open outreach to minorities should be avoided in the wake of the BJP's Hindutva push, which is believed to have yielded electoral dividends for the saffron party. Siddaramaiah's constant outreach to the minority community and his projection as a leader who can be trusted by minorities is widely believed to have been one of the key factors that led to Muslims rallying round the Congress in the recent Karnataka Assembly polls. #Bakrid festival is a symbol of sacrifice & may this inspire all of us to lend our hands to those in distress.#EidMubarak to all my dear Muslim friends!!#EidAlAdha pic.twitter.com/jicf6b7BYo — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) June 29, 2023 With Muslims accounting for a notable percentage of votes in as many as 65 of the state's 224 Assembly constituencies, a combination of minority votes along with those of Kurubas – the OBC community spread across Karnataka, to which Siddaramaiah belongs – is considered a formidable equation that catapults Siddaramaiah to the position of a mass leader in the state. “In India and the whole world Muslims are celebrating Bakrid today. It is a day of sacrifice. I have participated in the prayers at the Chamrajpet Idgah Maidan,” said Siddaramaiah at the Idgah Maidan, where he was accompanied by his close associate and Minister Zameer Ahmed. "There are many forces that create hatred within us. Those forces do this on purpose. We should not give any importance to it. We have to create an environment where people can live like human beings with love and trust. People should also develop along with the development of the state," the CM said. The BJP has often targeted Siddaramaiah by calling him names like "Siddaramullah Khan" for being a supporter of Muslims, but he has never fought shy of his image as a pro-Muslim leader unlike several other Congress leaders in the state. He has said the BJP's “name-calling” has been an attack on his "secular credentials". Kurubas account for about seven per cent of the OBC communities' 33 per cent population in the state, while Muslims make up about 12 per cent of the state's population. These two communities are spread across most of the 224 constituencies as compared to the state's dominant castes – Lingayats, who are concentrated in about 80 seats in north Karnataka, and Vokkaligas, who are mainly based in about 75 seats in south Karnataka. The Kuruba-Muslim combination – like the Muslim Yadav (M-Y) vote banks in north India – could play a key role in determining the fate of candidates in a majority of the seats because of its numerical edge over other combinations of communities, claim Siddaramaiah's supporters.
