K’taka: BJP, Congress begin political slugfest once again

Soon after the news about a Mysuru sculptor’s idol being selected for the Ayodhya Ram Temple broke, the report on two Kar Sevaks arrested for Ayodhya agitation in 1992 has lent a fresh round of ammunition to both the BJP and the GOP in Karnataka. If the fifth-generation sculptor Arun Yogiraj’s achievement is worthy of praise as he has already had his works displayed all over the country, it is with a sense of déjà vu that people have received the news of this one-upmanship move.

“Is Siddaramaiah in the process of making an IS government here? Or is he running a Mughal, Islamic government in the state?” Joshi told media persons in response to writing of letters by Congress leaders to drop the cases against accused in KG Halli-DJ Halli communal violence and initiation of action against Kar Sevaks.

Hitting out at Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi for his jibe at the government, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said Joshi does not know the law and is talking politically and not legally. “A criminal is always a criminal unless acquitted by the court. Does crime vanish with time? Does Pralhad Joshi know the law? Crime does not fade away with time. It remains as it is,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. Fair enough. Yet, what seems a brazen act of political vendetta for its timing is being couched in appropriate terminology, which on the face of it, seems convincing. At the same time, it is surprising how Congress is willingly giving political space to BJP which has been at a low ebb over the past eight months since the former stormed to power in May 2023. If it was the hijab ban issue earlier, which was handled in a muddle-headed manner by Siddaramaiah, when he contradicted what he said on it ( ‘We are reviewing it, not doing away altogether’), it is the ever-potent Ram Mandir issue which he has taken on, with his latest move.

With the High Command and the local Congress rank and file confident of beating back the aggressive challenge of the saffronites and bagging at least 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, such critical lapses can lend a fresh wave of power to the opposition which hardly needs a trigger to go on election mode.

Already, the inauguration of the Ram Mandir has created a sizeable interest and traction in Indian media and the public and the crescendo it would touch is anybody’s guess as the actual function is barely 20 days away.

In a long time, by default or otherwise, the Congress and the non-BJP parties have managed to keep the BJP away from the five states of south India. 2024 seemed a good chance to prolong the political agony of the formidable Hindutva brigade but such fissures can surely enable them to galvanise the dispirited among their cadre into action all over again.

Having managed to rally the supporters behind them with a few critical changes in the local party unit and with a new chief at the helm, BJP will surely like to exploit this emotive issue, which is its domain expertise, so to speak.

Unless and until the Congress is absolutely sure of bagging its targeted number of seats, which is no guarantee in politics, it is nothing short of a self-goal to dabble in religious politics and expect to come out triumphant.