Udupi: B.K. Hariprasad, senior Congress leader, said on Tuesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying hard to improve its tally in coastal districts, which it considered as its “communal laboratory”, but the people would not back it.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Hariprasad that in the 2013 Assembly elections, the Congress won 13 seats, the BJP four seats and two had gone to Independent candidates. The people realised that voting for the BJP would be like bringing back all the problems, including moral policing that existed prior to 2013.
Mr. Hariprasad said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and president of BJP Amit Shah were misleading the people on the death of 24 persons allegedly belonging to Sangh Parivar. Mr. Shah does not have the moral right to speak on the topic as he himself was an accused in murder cases in Gujarat, he alleged.
“Mr. Shah should explain about the deaths of former Gujarat BJP Minister, Haren Pandya, and also those of Tulsiram Prajapati, Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kauser Bi. He should also explain who is behind the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga,” he said.
The BJP was parading Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as its mascot in the State. While there had been no fake encounter deaths in Karnataka, there have been several in Uttar Pradesh under Mr. Adityanath’s watch, he said.
To a query, Mr. Hariprasad said that the BJP was behind the raids on Congress leaders and their supporters in the State. This was a clear indicator that the BJP was not confident of winning in the State. There was a crisis of leadership in the State unit of the BJP. The people of the State still remembered the corruption that had taken place when B.S. Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister, he said.
Asked why Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was contesting in two constituencies if the Congress was confident of its victory, Mr. Hariprasad said Chimanakatti, Congress MLA for Badami Assembly constituency, was insistent that Mr. Siddaramaiah should contest from the seat. Even Mr. Modi fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from two Parliamentary seats, he said.