Bengaluru: Communally charged speeches, threats to cut off heads, open targeting of religious minorities and repeated demands that people identify as ‘Hindus’ and not by their caste. These were just some of the highlights of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rally in the communally tense region of Maddur in Mandya district Wednesday, which it took out as a show of strength after communal clashes during a Ganesha idol procession.
The main opposition party in Karnataka mobilised hundreds, sporting saffron shawls and chanting slogans, to march through the sugarcane-growing district, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the ruling Congress party of favouring the Muslim community.
The town and district have turned into a fortress since Sunday night, after miscreants pelted stones at a Ganesha idol procession as it was passing a local mosque. This led to heightened tensions between the local Hindu and Muslim communities.
“Due to CM Siddaramaiah, Muslims have developed the feeling that nothing will happen to us. During Ramadan, Muslims can go in procession in front of temples. But Hindus have to remain silent in front of mosques. If Congress remains in power, many Pakistans will emerge within the state,” R. Ashoka, Leader of the Opposition, said in Maddur Wednesday.
His party colleague and former national general secretary of the BJP, C.T. Ravi, took it a notch higher when he threatened to ‘cut off heads’ of those who challenge the Hindus.
But the top leadership of the Janata Dal (Secular), BJP’s alliance partner, was conspicuous by its absence at the rally. D.C. Thammanna and Suresh Gowda, two former MLAs of the party were the only noticeable presence on the make-shift stage. Both remained silent spectators while BJP leaders took turns to make communally charged speeches.
The JD(S) and BJP joined hands to take on the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But Deve Gowda and the party led by his son, former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, have been cautious not to allow the BJP access into its strongholds, especially in the Old Mysuru region.
It also fears being branded as pro-Hindu, which could alienate the Muslim vote bank and benefit the Congress.
“Today the JD(S) is with the BJP; earlier, it was with the Congress alliance … it is part of politics and only related to governance. But we are following our own principles and though we are aligned with another party [BJP], our agenda and principles don’t change,” B.M. Farooq, JD(S) leader and former MLC, told ThePrint.
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‘Tactical move by JD(S)’
The JD(S), led by Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy, draws its strength from Old Mysuru region, where its core support base comprising the influential land-owning Vokkaligas, is in large numbers.
While the community has backed the Congress in state elections at times, the Vokkaligas have also thrown their weight behind Narendra Modi, which gives the BJP a chance to expand its support base, largely limited to the Lingayats and more concentrated in Bengaluru and northern Karnataka. The JD(S) fears that its alliance with the BJP could make it appear as an extension of the Modi-led party and thereby it could lose its identity.
“The JD(S) are also cautious about the way they approach this incident. They do not want to be seen hurting the sentiments of their Muslim support base. It is a very tactical move on their part and subtle messaging to the minorities,” Professor Chambi Puranik, a former Mysore University faculty and political analyst, told ThePrint.
He said that the JD(S) will try to retain its own identity as it has a significant Muslim support base, which has stood with the party in these parts.
The JD(S) formally joined hands with the BJP to survive the onslaught of the Congress. But the regional party fears that its alliance partner might use the coalition to make inroads into the Vokkaliga heartland, where it has little or no presence.
The JD(S) is also the only major political player in Karnataka that has allied with both national parties at different points in time as a survival mechanism, as well as to gain power through coalitions.
But the party has been careful not to be branded as pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim, as it could dent its chances if and when it parts ways with the BJP, analysts and leaders say.
Farooq said that no matter what the BJP’s agenda is, the JD(S) will remain secular and fight for the rights of both Hindus and Muslims. “Whether it is Kumaraswamy or Deve Gowda ji, our leaders will always remain secular,” he added. He also said that the guilty must be punished in the Maddur incident, irrespective of which community they identify with.
However, the JD(S) leadership has since maintained a line that attacks the Siddaramaiah government more than any community for the clashes in Mandya.
‘BJP only interested in politics’
With Kumaraswamy busy with his role as a cabinet minister in the Modi government, the responsibility of the party has been thrust on his son, Nikhil.
Both father and son gave their statements to the media Monday, but it was more about the breakdown of law and order under the Siddaramaiah-led government rather than siding with the BJP. “There is stone pelting on the police and they set fire to the police station, but there is no action taken against them. Why? Because it is all about appeasement of one particular religion … to strengthen its vote bank,” Nikhil Kumaraswamy he said Monday.
He visited Maddur Monday but has not spoken about the incident since. He has made only subtle references, such as “them” and “ours” without overtly naming the community, unlike its alliance partner.
The spate of communal incidents in Mandya has given the BJP a chance to make a hard push into the district, and possibly the region. There is growing clamour that Srirangapatna’s Jumma Masjid (Masjid-e-Ala) was a temple that was forcibly converted into a mosque by Tipu Sultan. Last January, the village of Keragodu in the same district had turned into a fortress after Hindutva groups protested the state government’s decision to deny permission to hoist a saffron or religious flag near the bus stand. Last year too, there were communal clashes in Nagamangala during the Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations.
“The BJP is not bothered about development. They are interested only in politics,” Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar said Wednesday.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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