By M.K. Ashoka

Bengaluru, March 12 (IANS): The announcement of replicating the bulldozer politics of the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the height of a communal flare up in the state has shocked progressive thinkers and peace loving groups in the state.

They are heaving a sigh of relief as things settled down without the bulldozer politics actually being implemented in the state.

Bommai who had declared that there is no place for bulldozer politics in Karnataka had come under pressure later to announce that he would consider the controversial UP and MP models.

BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel also maintained that the action taken against rioters in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh holds good for miscreants in the state too.

However, with assembly elections nearing, the discussion on ‘bulldozer politics' has taken a backseat. The BJP central leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are focusing on development. They are talking about peace in Kashmir, they are not talking about bulldozer politics.

Following the communal flare up in the state followed by the hijab crisis that led to a series of communal incidents, Bommai stated that as per the existing situation in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been taking the right decisions. In Karnataka, there are many regulating mechanisms to deal with such situations. However, if the need arises, Yogi's model would be taken up, he stated.

Sources said that the Karnataka police ensured restoration of law and order under challenging circumstances. Shivamogga city was turned into a police fortress after the killing of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha. The police were on their toes after Praveen Kumar Nettaru was hacked to death in Bellare of Dakshina Kannada district, a communally sensitive region.

When multiple stabbing incidents were reported from Shivamogga district on the occasion of the celebration of the 75th Independence Day, the police shot the accused in the leg and sent out a strong message to the miscreants.

The violence broke out due to a controversy over the installation of the flexes of BJP's iconic figure Veer Savarkar.

Commenting on the agitation by Hindu organisations regarding the use of loudspeakers during Azaan, Bommai stated that the Supreme Court guidelines will be implemented.

He stated that there is an organised network to disrupt the system in the state. The hijab issue started by five or six students was turned into a big crisis across the state. "The government has totally controlled the situation and today most of them are following uniform rules. The government has also implemented rules on Azaan as per Supreme Court guidelines," Bommai said.

Presently, the board exams for II PUC (class 12) have started. The BJP government has made the uniform rule compulsory and there is a taboo on attire symbolizing any religion. Not a single incident of protest has been reported across Karnataka. The hijab issue, which threatened peace in the region, seems to be fizzling out in the state.

BJP MLA from Belagavi South assembly constituency Abhay Patil had demanded that the miscreants who carry out anti-national activities and raise "Pakistan Zindabad '' slogans in India must be 'encountered'.

"The Uttar Pradesh model should be brought in Karnataka as well. The routine arrest and sending them to prison will not work. Those who give shelter to them should also be dealt with," he said.

Demolition and confiscation of property of the accused who were involved in communal riots and encounters of criminals was demanded by Hindu activists and BJP leaders. After the cooker blast in Mangaluru, Hindu activists demanded the adoption of harsher measures to deal with subversive activities.

After campaigning and agitations against Azaan, hijab, ban on Muslim merchants in temples, the Hindu organisations had also started campaigning for the national anthem in madrassas, the model which had been implemented in Uttar Pradesh. Hindu organisations had come together to demand the implementation of the rule of making singing of "Jana Gana Mana" compulsory in madrassas before commencing classes. The campaign was taken up on social media.

BJP youth wing office bearers in Chikkamagalur have sent resignations en masse to the party condemning the murder of BJP activist Praveen Kumar Nettaru. A large number of party workers in Vijayapura and Chitradurga also tendered their resignations to the party condemning the soft approach of the BJP government.

Social media was abuzz with the demand to emulate UP CM Yogi Adityanath. The party workers are ridiculing the ruling party for failure to initiate action and prevent killings in the state.

BJP MLA from Honnali constituency M P Renukacharya demanded that CM Bommai should adopt ways and methods to deal with communal forces like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

BJP MLA Lakshman Savadi has stated that the murders that have been carried out by people who come from Kerala has created fear in the state. To prevent this there is a need for special laws.

The coastal region has been a bastion of the BJP and the crowd booed RSS leaders for inaction and raised slogans against the BJP which has never happened in the communally sensitive coastal region.

CM Bommai who maintained that the UP, MP models do not suit Karnataka, has come under tremendous pressure to initiate action against communal forces. Reflecting the mood of party workers and leaders, Bommai for the first time stated that he will destroy communal organisations who are involved in bloodshed, party insiders said.

However, the presence of a powerful opposition in the form of former PM and JD (S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, Congress president D.K. Shivakumar, former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, who are sworn enemies of the ideology of the BJP, makes it difficult for the BJP to resort to ‘bulldozer politics.'

Siddaramaiah has recently stated he will oppose the RSS and the Sangh Parivar for its ideology till his last breath. The Congress is brimming with confidence in Karnataka that it would come to power in the upcoming elections. The ruling BJP, putting in all efforts to retain power, does not seem to be making Hindutva and bulldozer politics the main issues in the elections. Instead, the saffron party is treading a cautious path.

With former CM B.S. Yediyurappa gaining prominence in the party in the run up to the elections the party is sending signals in this regard. Yediyurappa, during his tenure as CM, gave a stern warning during the Covid pandemic to forces and individuals not to target minorities especially Muslims at the height of the controversy surrounding the Tablighi Zamaat.

Yediyurappa stated that he would not spare those who create hatred. He had also said that it won't be possible to win elections in Karnataka only by taking the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.