Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Jun 18: JD(S) state president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday June 18 said that if RSS leader Dr Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat was responsible for the recent clashes in Kalladka, he must be arrested immediately.
Responding to reports of district in-charge minister Ramanath Rai's alleged instructions to the police to arrest Kalladka Bhat and BJP's subsquent criticism of Rai, Kumaraswamy said in a press meet here, "If Kalladka Prabhkar Bhat is really responsible for the Kalladka clashes, he should be arrested without delay. There is no need to habitually give statements to the media on this. If there is genuine grounds for the minister to ask the police to arrest Kalladka Bhat, then it is not misuse of power," he said.
"Misuse of power is only when someone's arrest is ordered without any genuine reason. If there is evidence of the involvement of any individual in the Kalladka clashes, then that person should be arrested without delay. Why should there be any delay?" he questioned.
Holding both Congress and BJP responsible for the Kalladka situation, Kumaraswamy said, "The two parties (BJP and Congress) in Dakshina Kannada are encouraging social evils in their own way especially in the Kalladka incident. There has been fixing between the Congress and the BJP to consolidate their voter base through communal disturbances. Instead of doing high drama and detoriating the situation further, they should have sorted it out in the beginning and avoided intensifying of the situation in Kalladka. Both the parties are equally responsible for this. Instead of focussing on clashes, the national parties should have concentrated on the alleviating of the plight of farmers in the state.
"BJP and Congress might succeed in consolidating their voter base, but in reality, many innocent families and individuals will suffer because of the clashes and the hatred in society," said Kumaraswamy.
He also took potshots at chief minister Siddaramaiah, terming him as one of the most 'caste-oriented' chief ministers Karnataka ever had, whose decisions are chiefly 'based on caste considerations'.
Countering Siddaramaiah's comments that JD(S) had shown its 'true colours' by supporting a 'communal' BJP in the recent no-confidence motion against the Legislative Council chairman, Kumaraswamy said, "I do not need to learn any lessons of secularism from Siddarammiah. He is known for taking hasty decisions in postings of government officials and I can give several examples of it."
Speaking about the no-confidence motion, Kumaraswamy said, "Congress had taken JD(S) for granted after the Nanjangud and Gundlupet by-elections. Congress is ruling at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the credit goes to JD (S) for the support. None of the Congress leaders consulted JD(S) or sought our support before moving the motion."
When asked whether JD(S) would have supported the motion had it been consulted in advance, Kumaraswamy replied that it did not intend to send wrong message to the public by breaking the earlier agreement. "Besides the movers of no-confidence motion, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa too was in favour of Shankaramurthy’s removal. Yeddyurappa did not seek help from the JD(S) during the no-confidence motion. Instead, it was the leader of the opposition in the Council K S Eshwarappa, MLC V Somanna and Shankaramurthy himself, who sought help from JD(S)," he said.
"JD(S) is not in need of the support from national parties, be it BJP or Congress; but it is the national parties which would need the support," he added.
District president Mohammed Kunji, Akshith Suvarna and others were present.
Later, Kumaraswamy participated in an Iftar party organized by the district JD(S) at a private hotel.