Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee chief Harish Kumar on Thursday slammed the BJP for filing FIRs against District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai for criticising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and for playing “hate politics”.
Speaking to the media at the DK Congress Committee Hall, Kumar accused the BJP of rising to a new level of “hate politics” to create a rift between castes.
“Politicians should keep their caste and religion separate from their political ideologies. Once they enter politics, politicians should not show any bias towards any caste or religion,” he said.
Speaking about UP CM Adityanath, he said that while there is nothing wrong with saffron wearing seers entering politics, they should not turn saffron into a cover for their misdeeds in politics. “In a democracy, people are allowed to criticize the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and MLAs. As a Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath should also face criticisms and react to it as a responsible representative of the people,” he added, referring to the FIRs filed against Mithun Rai.
“The BJP is resorting to hate politics by involving caste for political mileage and they are not showing respect for the lives of the poor and Dalits. The Congress has been raising its voice against their hate politics. Mithun Rai also spoke against Yogi Adityanath. Both being politicians, Rai has a right to criticize a Chief Minister. If one cannot accept criticisms, they are not fit to be a politician. It should be noted that Yogi Adityanath had 52 cases against him, all of which were withdrawn after he became Chief Minister,” Kumar said.
He then state that the BJP should follow in Mithun Rai’s footsteps to learn Hindutva, not the other way around.
“Mithun Rai is ahead in preserving the Hindu culture and tradition. He has been helping people, organizing ‘Gau Daan’ (donating cows) and ‘Pili Nalike’ (tiger dance) programmes to uphold the culture of our district and nation. The BJP should learn Hindutva and social justice from him. When Swami Agnivesh was attacked and the culprits tore his saffron attire, none of the BJP leaders raised their voice nor did they fight for justice. No action was taken by CM Yogi or any BJP leader when a young woman in Uttar Pradesh was raped. The BJP did not even utter a single word against the perpetrators as they are Hindus. The BJP will only raise its voice if the assaulter or murderers are from other communities,” Kumar charged.
Former MCC mayor Harinath, who was also present at the presser condemned the complaint filed by Jogi Community President Kiran against Mithun Rai. “Kiran, who is a self-proclaimed president, doesn’t know anything. On top of that, he has gone and lodged a complaint against Mithun Rai for insulting the Jogi community, probably due to political pressure. Why didn’t the Jogi community raise their voice when local BJP leaders removed the name board when the circle near the Circuit House was named after Jwalanath?” He then challenged Kiran to discussion on the current issue.
Meanwhile, former MLA Mohiuddin Bava, who was also present, demanded the arrest of the culprit who attacked a former taluk panchayat member in Kulshekar of the city.
