Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddharamaiah yesterday flayed BJP leaders and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah’s ‘mantra’ and ‘tantra’ will not work in Karnataka.

After inaugurating the party’s new Office near the Railway Station and Minorities’ Conference yesterday, the CM claimed that BJP came to power in the country due to a divide in secular power. Modi and Shah’s techniques will not work in Karnataka, he reiterated.

Charging the JD(S) with having aided the BJP’s ascension to power in the State, Siddharamaiah said, “Had JD(S), which claims to be a secular party, not joined hands with the communal BJP, the saffron party would not have come to power. JD(S) undermined the cause of secularism, and in the forthcoming Assembly elections, we will not go along with a party that supported the BJP.”

He took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll slogan, ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. “There is no meaning in Modi’s slogan when the Centre is not taking people of all communities, including minorities. They don’t have the moral right to use such a slogan. Uttar Pradesh has more than 400 Assembly segments. BJP, a so-called national party, did not give a single ticket to anyone from the minority communities,” he said.

“For the BJP, India means Hindutva but for us, everyone is equally important because India is a secular country. I am a Hindu, and also constructed a Ram temple in my village, but we respect people of all religions equally,” Siddharamaiah said.

‘NO CULTURE’

Targeting MP Shobha Karandlaje and Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde for their statements, Siddharamaiah said the BJP leaders have no culture and humanity and are unfit to be MPs and MLAs.

Describing BJP as anti-Constitution, he said the BJP leaders had demanded amendment of Indian Constitution within a month of its implementation. BJP leaders have no respect for the Constitution and no faith in democracy, secularism and social justice, he criticised.

“The State government will not tolerate anyone attempting to sow discord. Those who gathered in Udupi for the Dharma Sansad were anti-secular forces. They targeted the country’s secular fabric,” he said.

Declining to comment on remarks made by Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, Siddharamaiah said, “I don’t want to refer to Seers. But I am against those who speak against equality and secularism.” He said that the Dharma Sansad would not yield electoral dividends for the BJP in the coastal belt.

Siddharamaiah also refused to react to statements made by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, wherein the latter said that he would cancel all the Bhagya schemes if the JD(S) came to power.

“Gandhiji had spoken on the need to generate employment in rural areas through Khadi and cottage industries. But, even after so many years, we have failed to eradicate the problem of hunger in rural areas. This is why I have introduced Anna Bhagya and other welfare schemes,” the CM said.

BJP MISSION 150: Remarking about the BJP’s Mission 150 — the opposition party in the State is looking to win 150 of the 224 seats — Siddharamaiah said that the outcome of the by-poll to Nanjangud and Gundlupet had resulted in the wind going out of the party’s sails.

“Both BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa and the party’s National President Amit Shah are disappointed and have come out with various strategies, including speaking in insulting tones about Congress leaders. During the Parivarthana Rally, BJP leaders including Ananthkumar Hegde, Shobha Karandlaje and Yeddyurappa spoke insultingly against me.

When they don’t know how to respect people, they are unfit to become elected representatives. People will teach them a lesson in the upcoming elections,” the CM said.

KPCC President Dr. G Parameshwara said the Congress is in the blood of minorities. Congress party has been working for the welfare of minorities. “Support Congress party in the upcoming Assembly polls,” he said.