Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday accused the BJP of trying to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy.

“BJP is trying to erase Gandhi’s footsteps, yet it uses his name and his symbols in protests. We need to save Gandhi’s legacy,” he said, addressing a press conference, after participating in the Martyrs Day function at the KPCC office.

“The BJP may not accept Gandhi’s philosophy yet they seek refuge of the Gandhi statue and legacy for any of their protests. It was Gandhiji who taught us the principles of non-violent protests. It was Gandhi who started Swadeshi movement, but the Prime Minister is claiming credit for Make in India initiative” he said. “Gandhiji was the President of the Congress party and got us independence. The BJP has zero contribution in the independence struggle and hence is unable to digest the fact that Gandhiji got us independence. The government has plans to conduct Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan throughout the year to spread his message. The CM may talk about implementation of the report submitted by the Gandhi Bharat implementation committee during budget presentation. We have had discussions about this with the AICC also,” he said.

“It is important that we follow Gandhi’s principles in our families first. Leaders from all over the world have embraced his philosophy. Gandhi is still alive amidst us. We are working towards spreading his message to the world,” he said.

“The Congress party workers and leaders in Channapatna worked hard during the by-election. We are organising a convention on Feb 2 to thank them for their efforts. The event was earlier postponed due to Belagavi session,” he said.

Water tariff hike inevitable

Asked about water tariff hike in Bengaluru, he said, “Water tariff hike is inevitable as the tariff has not been hiked in 11 years. The BWWSB is incurring losses of Rs 1,000 crore per year. The Board also needs about Rs 6,000 crore to enhance its network of pipelines.”

Asked about BJP MP Sudhakar’s outburst against his party leaders, he said, “I am not going to talk about other parties. We are happy that Congress party is united and we are all working together.”