BJP doesn't have patent over Hindutva, says Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Tuesday held a marathon meeting with its top leaders and new office-bearers of the State unit and decided to hit back at the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party saying it alone doesn’t have copyright over Hindutva.

Speaking at the meeting attended by AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal, KPCC president G. Parameshwara and 200 new office-bearers, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told the cadre to counter BJP’s agenda of communal and Hindutva politics aggressively by justifying the party’s role in safeguarding the Hindu religion since the country’s independence.

“What the BJP is preaching is not Hinduism. They just want to divide society. We want to take along all communities and religion and move forward,” the Chief Minister reportedly stated in his address, said sources in the Congress.Siddaramaiah also told the party workers/leaders to sharpen their knives to counter the BJP’s attack on the government’s policies.

Asking the office-bearers to organise booth-level committees in all 224 constituencies, he said additional 50 votes in each booth would add up to 10,000 votes in each constituency.Upset with Congress leader C.M. Ibrahim for meeting Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, . Siddaramaiah reportedly expressed his anger against leaders who are warming up to JD(S) leaders.