BJP accuses K'taka govt of indulging in appeasement politics; challenges Siddaramaiah for debate

Bengaluru, May 28 Hitting out at the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government, BJP's state in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on Wednesday held the 'appeasement politics and policies' of the grand old party responsible for the communal tensions in the state, and insult to the Hindu community.

Speaking at a press conference here at the BJP state headquarters "Jagannath Bhavan", Agarwal said: "There is no Congress government in Karnataka, this is a Muslim League government."

He challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to participate in a public debate with BJP state president Vijayendra on television. “If he believes the allegations are false, let him come forward for a debate,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

"The government has granted vast land holdings to the Waqf Board. They have given Rs 150 crore allocations and 4 per cent reservation to minorities. A Congress leader even shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ inside Vidhana Soudha,” he said.

He further said that a shopkeeper was attacked for performing a Hanuman puja inside his shop. “For the past two years, the state is not being ruled by the Congress but resembles a Muslim League government... one that is more like SDPI or PFI,” he said.

He urged the Congress to give up appeasement politics and adopt nationalist policies.

Agarwal further predicted that the Congress government in Karnataka could collapse any moment due to internal conflicts.

"Will Siddaramaiah remain CM? If he resigns, the public wants to know whether it will be G. Parameshwara (Home Minister), D.K. Shivakumar (Deputy CM), or Priyank Kharge (Minister for RDPR, IT and BT) who takes over?” he wondered.

Agarwal further claimed that public support is growing for the BJP in Karnataka, and recent surveys indicate that if elections are held today, the BJP would win between 150 and 155 seats.

He stated that the BJP did not perform well in the 2023 Assembly elections, where the Congress secured a majority. However, during the subsequent Lok Sabha elections, under the national leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the local (state-level) leadership of B.Y. Vijayendra, the BJP contested effectively.

The senior BJP leader also aseerted that the people of Karnataka realised within just a year that they had made a wrong decision during the Assembly elections.

He again expressed confidence that if elections were held now, the BJP would win 150 to 155 seats and form the government.

He accused the Congress government of indulging in rampant corruption and extreme appeasement of Muslims.

"If this continues, the Congress could fall to its lowest-ever seat tally in the next Assembly elections," Radha Mohan Das Agarwal claimed.

He also criticised the Congress for filing a defamation case against the BJP.

He said while the Congress organised a convention to showcase two years of its achievements, the BJP published advertisements in newspapers exposing the government’s failures and released a 'charge sheet'.

"As the BJP shared the truth with the public, the Congress became nervous. In a democracy, allegations and counter-allegations are normal, not just in India but globally. Yet, for the first time, a defamation suit has been filed against us," Agarwal said.

BJP state president and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra, Rajya Sabha MP Lehar Singh Siroya, BJP Yuva Morcha general secretary and MLA Harish Poonja, MLAs Manappa D. Vajjal, Dr. Shailendra Beldale, Dr. Avinash Jadhav, Chandru Lamani, Krishna Naik, and several other party leaders participated in the press conference.

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