Siddaramaiah says BJP not banning SDPI 'to divide votes'

Bengaluru: Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre did not ban the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) with an intention to divide votes.

The Centre banned only the Popular Front of India (PFI) but spared its political wing SDPI to ensure that the votes get divided, Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said while addressing the 'Prajadhwani Yatra' of the Congress in Udupi. Siddaramaiah likened the PFI to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the SDPI to the BJP.

He also termed as baseless the allegations by the BJP that that the Congress government led by him had released PFI or SDPI activists involved in criminal activities or communal violence from jail. Terming Congress the only secular party in the country, he stated that Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi was the first terrorist. Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were victims of terrorism, he added. The Congress leader also alleged that the RSS and the BJP which promoted Hindutva did not believe in the Constitution.

"None of the RSS or the present BJP leaders participated in the freedom struggle," he said. Siddaramaiah cautioned the youth in the coastal belt against falling prey to the communal designs of the BJP and the RSS.He said that while Hindus believed in humanity, the supporters of Hindutva opposed it. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is the founder of Hindutva. The BJP and the RSS revered Godse and Savarkar, he said.