Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who faced the ire of the BJP workers in Kodagu and was pelted with eggs on Thursday lashed out saying it was a cowardly act to divert public attention.
Mr. Siddaramaiah was in Kodagu to visit flood-affected regions, but was greeted with black flags by members of BJP Yuva Morcha at Tithimathi, who also displayed portraits of Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar. Subsequently, his vehicle was pelted with eggs at Madikeri.
Speaking to mediapersons, Mr. Siddaramaiah said not only was it a cowardly act but it was an exercise in diverting public attention from absence of governance.
‘’The BJP has failed on all fronts and neither was there a government in the State nor was there a semblance of governance,’, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
‘’The BJP is perturbed that the Congress was set to win both the Assembly segments in the next elections and hence was desperate to prevent me from touring in Kodagu,” he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who inspected a major retaining wall constructed at Madikeri at a cost of nearly ₹7.5 crore and was collapsing, said the quality of work is a clear indicator of the shoddy works and accused the MLAs of being in nexus with the contractors. ‘’They are trying to secure it with sand bags and the moment the BJP learnt that I was on my way to inspect the retaining wall, the party workers started the protest’’, he added.
Distortion of history
Meanwhile, in a statement released in Bengaluru, Mr. Siddaramaiah slammed the BJP for propping up fake patriots with reference to Veer Savarkar and said that it (BJP) was out to distort history.
The BJP ideology clashes with that of true nationalists and patriots such as Bhagat Singh or the values propagated by Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and hence it has stopped appropriating them, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
The government has issued advertisements in the media using taxpayers money, but it has dropped the name of Jawaharlal Nehru - who not only fought for freedom but laid the foundation stone for a modern India – from the list of freedom fighters name, chided Mr. Siddaramaiah.
He also alleged that Veer Savrkar, who was being propped up as a freedom fighter by the BJP, espoused caste supremacy rooted in the tenets of Manu and there was no comparison with nationalist and humanist Bhagat Singh who valiantly faced the gallows. Continuing his diatribe, Mr. Siddaramaiah said people of the country should gleam through the pages of history to ascertain the truth failing which history would be distorted.
He also warned that if the youth of the country did not awaken, then the country will have to brace for another freedom struggle. The BJP was weakening the nation’s economy and was diverting the people’s attention to mask its lapses, said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
