Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath on Tuesday lashed out at former Speaker Ramesh Kumar for ‘provoking’ Muslims against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked the BJP government in the State to book a case against Mr. Kumar.
“A former Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr. Ramesh Kumar, who holds forth on constitutional values, has himself spoken in an unconstitutional manner by pitting one community against a democratically elected Prime Minister”, Mr. Vishwanath said while addressing a press conference here.
He said the State government should put him behind bars for inciting disturbing peace in the society.
Referring to the context of Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s reported speech, Mr. Vishwanath wondered why Congress leaders including Mr. Kumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah speak against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) only in Muslim areas. “Why do you go and speak about CAA only in Muslims areas? Why not in Hindu areas? That is because nobody comes to listen to you”, he said.
He accused the Congress leaders of misguiding innocent Muslims and sought to caution the community against the designs of the Congress. Mr. Vishwanath, who was disqualified from the Assembly by Mr. Ramesh Kumar during the latter’s tenure as Speaker, later contested as a BJP candidate in the by-polls to Assembly from Hunsur, but lost to Congress candidate H.P. Manjunath. Mr .Vishwanath also targeted Mr. Siddaramaiah and questioned his criticism of the B.S. Yediyurappa government’s move to wind up the Shaadi Bhagya scheme.
“Why do you want only Shaadi Bhagya? Aren’t Muslims entitled to Akshara Bhagya (education), Arogya Bhagya (health), Udyoga Bhagya (employment) and Rajakiya Bhagya (political representation)?”, he asked.
If the Congress has concern for Muslims, why doesn’t Mr. Siddaramaiah propose the name of a member of the community to the post of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief or Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, he said.
Similarly, he said even the JD(S) pays only lip service to the Muslim community. “Could they not have appointed a Muslim as the party’s state unit chief after I quit?”, he questioned.
Fielding queries, Mr. Vishwanath said he favoured the continuation of Shaadi Bhagya and Tipu Jayanti. In a democracy, once a scheme is announced, it should not be withdrawn, he reasoned.
Referring to former Union Minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal’s remarks against freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy, Mr. Vishwanath found fault with both. While Mr. Doreswamy, who is respected as a freedom fighter, should not have identified himself with the Congress, Mr. Yatnal too should have exercised restraint, he said.
