Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said that the Congress “firmly believes in Hindutva ideology practised and propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda”.
Speaking to reporters here after the party senior leaders’ meeting here, Shivakumar said that they (Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda) propagated inclusive Hindutva, while the BJP follows divisive Hindutva.
“Hindu and Hinduism are no one’s property. These are India’s ethos and belongs to everyone,” he said while responding to questions on the BJP’s proposed stringent law on banning interfaith marriages also termed as ‘Love Jihad’.
He asserted that “protecting the constitution is our commitment and our stand”.
Besides, he said: “We are planning to make Congress a cadre-based party, hence, we plan to form booth and panchayat level committees during the upcoming gram panchayat elections itself.”
The Karnataka State Election Commission on Monday announced polls to 5,762 gram panchayats in the state in two phases on December 22 and 27, and the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect.
Hailing the announcement of the polls, the KPCC president said that nine teams will be formed and all our leaders would be part of these teams in a strong bid to win a majority of GPs in next month’s elections.
