A day after BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to Mangaluru, the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed frequent visits of BJP leaders to the coastal parts of the State ahead of the 2019 general elections.
On Friday, Mr. Siddaramaiah tweeted: “The BJP has turned the coastal Karnataka into a laboratory for Hindutva. The BJP leaders have been visiting coastal Karnataka frequently. But the people will not vote for the BJP even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah set up their house in Karnataka.”
Mr. Shah attended a meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Mangaluru on Wednesday. It was his third visit to the coastal city this year and such visits are expected to continue in view of the next year’s Lok Sabha elections. It is said that the RSS meeting discussed Maoist activities, conversion issues, and Sabarimala and Ram Mandir issues.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, in another tweet on Friday, said the BJP had decided to keep alive the Ram temple issue ahead of the elections. The BJP has been “emotionally blackmailing the Hindus” by raising the Ram janmabhoomi issue and construction of a temple at Ayodhya, he said. “The BJP is more keen on keeping the Ayodhya issue alive than constructing the Ram temple. The BJP has brought back to life the Ram janmabhoomi issue to emotionally draw people. But the people are aware of this.”
In the 2014 elections, the BJP won Mangaluru and Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seats.