Karnataka Assembly elections 2018: Three state Congress ministers tried to divide Lingayats, says PM Modi

Following the Lingayat sect’s demand for a separate religion status, the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka had, on March 19, forwarded a recommendation to the Modi government to accord the community the status of a minority religion.

Lingayats form a key voter base of the BJP. The move to recommend separate religion status for the community had so far been underplayed in the campaign by all political parties.

Read | Even Rajiv Gandhi with his 415 seats couldn’t stand up to Opposition unity, says Rahul

At the rally, alleging that Congress leaders were trying to divide society by recommending a separate religion status, the Prime Minister said, “Over the past few years there has been a drought in these parts. There are no teachers in schools, and there is rampant sand mining. But the irrigation minister, the education minister and the mining minister were busy plotting to divide society here.”

He was referring to Irrigation Minister M B Patil, Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi and Mining Minister Vinay Kulkarni, who were at the forefront of last year’s campaign by people from the Lingayat community for a separate religion status.

“The ministers went to their Delhi leaders, who do not know about Basaveshwara, Allama Prabhu and Akka Mahadevi and hatched a plan to divide the community. Basaveshwara’s vachanas have been translated to so many languages but they are insulting Basavanna. These people should be punished.”

Also Read | PM Modi’s speeches won’t give jobs, farmers’ relief: Sonia Gandhi

He said the BJP-led government at the Centre is keen to follow the footsteps of seers and religious schools in the region, who have a three-pronged agenda: providing education, food and good health to the people.

Later, at a rally in Bengaluru, Modi accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of turning his back on the city and handing its control to three “infamous ministers’’. He said, “I have not been able to understand why the Karnataka Chief Minister is angry with Bengaluru, and that has handed over the city to an infamous trio of ministers. You know who these three are…. One is worse than the other, and they help each other so much that they have laid Bengaluru to waste over the last five years.” He did not name the three ministers.

“The Congress has lost no opportunity to give the city a bad name. Party workers are attacked, women are not safe on the streets, there are deaths on potholed roads, a small rain results in floods, lakes catch fire, long traffic jams bring the city to a halt.”

Referring to the Bengaluru Congress leaders whom he accused of letting the city go to waste, Modi said, “Tell me, who is responsible for the death of a police officer and is a minister? The second one is well-known for land grabbing… he has relations in the Gulf countries. The third person is so close to the chief minister that he has everything other than shanti (peace). His son is involved in goondaism.”