The BJP general secretary C.T. Ravi and State president Nalin Kumar Kateel said the Congress will pay the price and suffer electoral defeat in the byelections in the State “for its role” in the Bengaluru violence.
He was in Mysuru to attend the party officer-bearers meeting on Thursday.
Mr. Ravi, who spoke to the media, said that the role and involvement the Congress and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leaders in the violence has emerged and it was now clear who were behind the riots.
The WhatsApp chat details available with the investigating agencies was a direct pointer to the involvement of the Congress, Mr. Ravi added.
He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who otherwise visits violence-affected places for political mileage, was silent, but the issue would be raised during the byelections. “The Congress has dug its own grave. Its role in the violence will prove to be electorally disastrous for the party,” said Mr. Ravi.
He asserted that the BJP would win the R.R. Nagar and Sira Assembly bypolls. He alleged that the Congress exploited the Dalits for political gains without doing anything for their welfare. On the ban on SDPI, Mr. Ravi said it has to be a legal process and the Home Department was at it.
Mr. Kateel said the Congress would face an electoral rout in the bypolls as it was emaciated. “It is a party that cannot seek justice for its MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, whose house was torched during the Bengaluru riots by its own party member. The Congress president cannot demand the arrest of the culprits responsible for the incident. That being the case, who will it face ïn the elections, questioned Mr. Kateel.
