Balehonnur: The BJP is conspiring to create unrest in the society. By assaulting Dalits in the name of cow protection, the Sangh Parivar is trying to divide the society,” said KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao.

Calling the assault a condemnable act, the minister also warned that the Congress would oppose all the moves of the Sangh Parivar to create unrest in the society.

Addressing ‘Samarasya Nadige, Shanthipura Kadege’ organised by the Congress in protest against the assault on Dalits and labourers, from Sangameshwarapete to Shanthipura on Sunday, he urged the police to act tough against the BJP and pro-Hindu organisations that are involved in vigilantism. The padayatre is being organised to ensure that the society should not be divided, he insisted.

“There is need for peace in the society. The Congress wants to establish peace and harmony in the society. Neither the MLA Jeevraj nor MLA C T Ravi have condemned the act of the Bajrang Dal leaders who are said to have assaulted Dalits in the name of cow protection. Instead, they are attempting to safeguard the Bajrang Dal leaders,” he criticised.

“At least after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flaying cow vigilantism and terming such activists as ‘anti social elements’,” Gundu Rao said, adding that the MLAs should keep such forces at bay. The MLAs should check the activities of Sangh Parivar and Hindu Jagarana Vedike.

MLC Motamma said that the incident at Kundoor where Dalits were assaulted n the name of cow protection, is an assault on the society. “Who has given them the power to carry our moral policing?” she asked.

Bommaiah inaugurated the padayatre at Sangameshwarapete. Hundreds of people participated in the padayatre covering a distance of 20-km from Sangameshwarapete to Shanthipura.