Mangaluru : The former chief minister and leader of opposition in Karnataka assembly, Siddaramaiah, said BJP is planing to confer Bharat Ratna upon Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra.

He was addressing the party representatives at the St Sebestian Church hall at Bendorewell in the city on Friday, October 18.

“Savarkar was the president of Hindu Mahasabha. He was one of the conspirators of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. He was one of the accused in the assassination. Due to lack of evidence, he was acquitted. There are plans to confer Bharat Ratna on him. What will happen to this nation? Someone said let the government give Bharat Ratna to Godse too,” Siddaramaiah said in a sarcastic way.

Godse was the one who killed Mahatma Gandhi. RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were never part of Indian Independence struggle. Truth is that they were all with the Britishers. Bharat Ratna for killers of Gandhiji? Bharat Ratna for those who prepared plans for Gandhiji’s assassination? Should BJP win in Mangaluru, which is a land of educated people, Siddaramaiah questioned and called upon people to not to vote for BJP.

He said the BJP was always playing with the sentiments of people for political gains. “With the help of Sri Rama, Hindutva, Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir and Article 370, they are trying to portray themselves as patriots,” he said.

He also said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah did not want Yediyurappa to be chief minister of the state, but helplessly they have made him the chief minister.

“Nalin Kumar Kateel, the state BJP president, does not have any knowledge about economy of the state so does Yediyurappa. Nalin Kumar Kateel does not know the number of districts in the state as he is one of the ignorant MPs who failed to speak about Pumpwell flyover in the parliament. He says that there are 34 districts in the state. Nalin Kumar Kateel’s switch is in the hands of B L Santhosh. If he switches on then Nalin Kumar Kateel will dance. Yedyurappa’s government will be there till December, then definitely once again election will be held.

MLA U T Khader, MLC Ivan D’Souza, District Congress president Harish Kumar, District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai, former Minister Ramanath Rai, former MLAs J R Lobo, Mohiudeen Bava, Abhayachandra Jain, former mayor Kavitha Sanil and others were present.

Siddaramaiah left for Manjeshwar assembly constituency in Kasaragod district of Kerala, where bypoll will be held on October 21.