Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday said there is no communal issue in Karnataka and alleged that "parties like Congress run these narratives to distract from their political irrelevance".
Chandrasekhar also responded to Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's "growing religious divide" remark made last month and said she has tweeted on many issues and has been proven wrong.
The minister toldthere is no issue in Bengaluru which is beyond the reach of the BJP government in Karnataka.
He said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that those who violate the law will face action.
"Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has tweeted on many issues and has been proven wrong. There is no issue in Bengaluru that is beyond the reach of the government. Chief Minister has said that those who violate the law will be investigated and prosecuted. Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city," Chandrasekhar told ANI.
"There is no communal issue in Karnataka. There are some elements that try and create some trouble. These narratives are created by parties like Congress before the elections, to distract from their political irrelevance. They keep dragging such issues," he added.
Amid a row in Karnataka over a call by some groups to ban traders of a particular community from temple festivals, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw had last month referred to "communal exclusion".
"Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT became communal it would destroy our global leadership. @BSBommai please resolve this growing religious divide," she had said in a tweet
BJP leaders had slammed her remarks.
"It is unfortunate to see people like Kiran Shaw impose their personal, politically coloured opinion, and conflate it with India's leadership in the ITBT sector. Rahul Bajaj once said something similar for Gujarat, it is today a leading automobile manufacturing hub. Go figure...," BJP's West Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya had said.
Karnataka will go to the polls next year.
( With inputs from ANI )
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