Siddaramaiah's statement results in 'selfie with tilak' campaign

BENGALURU: A statement which was loaded with sarcasm and made in a lighter vein by Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday has become a rage on social media, with people across the world responding to a campaign launched by the BJP, #selfiewithtilak.

The video of Siddaramaiah, speaking at a rally in his constituency of Badami, recently has him talking to a local contractor on completion of work of a project and stating: “Who is the contractor?... it is you, ok. You got a tilak (kumkum) on your forehead, will you complete the work properly?. I am scared of people who wear tilaks.”

No sooner did the video become viral, the BJP launched a social media campaign of #selfiewith tilak, with senior BJP leaders including Shobha Karandlaje and party national spokesperson Tejinder Singh Bagga posting their pics sporting the tilak.



“I am tweeting My pic with Tilak to show Protest against Anti Hindu/Anti Indian Culture CM Siddaramaiah . I request everyone to Tweet your Pic/Selfie with Tilak ,Tag @siddaramaiah with Hashtag #SelfieWithTilak,” said Bagga, with his picture.

Within an hour of the campaign, the #SelfieWithTilak caught on and as many as 7,896 people retweeted it with their pictures. Late on Wednesday night, with the intense attack on Siddaramaiah from the twitterati over his statements, the former CM himself tweeted tagging a post of Karandlaje posing with the tilak and hit back by stating: “Those who wear the tilaks and go to the temples are true devotees of the Gods. However, those who sport it for the sake of taking selfies are ka_bhakths (false believers).”