Daijiworld Media Network-Bengaluru (RJP)
Bengaluru, Jul 13: Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao and his wife Tabassum on Wednesday July 12, condemned the remarks made by BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje relating to their family. They said Shobha should not talk personal matters in politics.
Both of them made the statements separately. While Dinesh spoke to the media, Tabassum posted in her Facebook page.
Shobha Karandlaje had asked why Dinesh has not married a Dalit, while participating in a protest organised by the BJP to condemn the communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district and the state government’s inability to contain it.
Dinesh with Tabassum
Shobha had also said that everybody knew whom Dinesh has married, referring to his wife Tabassum. It was interpreted that Shobha made these remarks to take a dig at chief minister Siddaramaiah who had recently asked BJP leaders to make their children Dalits if they really care about them.
Dinesh advised Shobha to get married when he condemned her remarks. “I got married in 1994. Everybody knows whom I have married. May be she is still unmarried. I think Shobha still has a chance to marry somebody,” he said.
“BJP is trying to divide society on the basis of religion. The BJP leaders have realised that they cannot win the next Assembly elections. They have become desperate and hence they are stooping to such low level in politics. Speeches made by the party leaders during their protest in Bengaluru are condemnable,” he added.
Condemning Shobha’s remarks on her personal life, Tabassum stated on her Facebook page “It is no secret that I was born a Muslim and my husband Dinesh Gundu Rao, a Brahmin. We have been happily married for over two decades now...neither of us has converted...respecting all religion is a practice followed by us...we represent the unity in diversity that India stands for...As a homemaker and a mother of two daughters, I take strong umbrage to Shobha Karandlaje trespassing into our private lives for her narrow political gains...It is unfortunate that a leader of Shobha’s stature has stooped to such levels.”