Karnataka polls: CM, Congress chief visit Anjaneya temples as state votes tomorrow

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and state Congress president DK Shivakumar visited Anjaneya temples on Tuesday, a day ahead of assembly polls.

While Bommai visited the shrine at Vijayanagara in Hubballi and chanted “Hanuman Chalisa” with devotees there, Shivakumar paid a visit to the temple at KR Market in Bengaluru and offered prayers. The visits gain significance in the backdrop of controversy over the proposal in the Congress manifesto for banning the Bajrang Dal.

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Both BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi aggressively picked up the issue to portray the grand old party as being against Lord Anjaneya and the sentiments of Hindus, and repeatedly using Jai Bajarangbali slogans during the campaign.

Congress leaders including Shivakumar have stood by the manifesto promise, and have maintained that Lord Anjaneya or Bajarangi and Bajrang Dal are two different things and cannot be compared, and they too were devotees of Anjaneya and Lord Rama. “I have prayed to Lord Anjaneya to give me strength to serve the people like he served with loyalty,” Shivakumar said, after visiting the temple.

Union Minister and State BJP Election Management Committee chief Shobha Karandlaje also visited Shri Prasanna Veeranjaneya temple at Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru along with party workers and offered prayers. She hit out at the Congress for proposing to ban Bajarang Dal in its manifesto. She also accused AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala of insulting Lord Anjaneya and raising doubts about his birth place, and thereby causing threat to Hindu beliefs.

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On May 7, the VHP and its youth wing Bajrang Dal, decided to chant “Hanuman Chalisa” on May 9 throughout the country. The call comes as a counter to the Congress, which in its manifesto released last week, said it was committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste and religion.

(With Agency inputs)