Karnataka BJP taps recent events for communal polarisation offensive
Saffron party accuses Congress govt in state of minority appeasement; some sections of Congress feel this calls for a strong counter
Faced with a do-or-die Lok Sabha battle in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it seems, has decided to reap electoral dividend by spewing anti-Muslim frenzy.
During the 2023 Assembly election in the state, the Congress used the development plank to snatch power from the BJP in Karnataka. It made 'five guarantees' which, it promised, would the lives of the people.
This year, around the Lok Sabha election, the BJP is raising communal issues, and accusing the Congress of minority appeasement. What is helping the BJP is a series of incidents that took place in Karnataka in recent weeks, which the party has sought to twist to suit its narrative.
Recent issues
The murder of a Dalit youth, allegedly by four people from the Muslim community in the Shagapurpet area of Yadgiri, had the BJP up in arms. The party accused the the Congress government in the state of inaction.
Local BJP leaders visited the house of the deceased and expressed their anger against the Siddaramaiah government.
The alleged murder of a young Hindu woman in Hubbali by her ex Muslim lover, who was subsequently arrested, has also been used by rightwing Hindu groups to spew hatred both against Muslims and the Congress.
Targeting Congress
The BJP is alleging that Muslim appeasement is intensifying under the Congress administration and there are violent attacks on Hindus in Karnataka. Even the recent bombing at the popular Rameshwaram Café, for which Islamist suspects have been arrested, has provided the BJP ammunition to take on the Congress.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has compared the Congress-ruled Karnataka with Pakistan.
Congress leaders, outraged over the turn of events, have asked to know why the BJP is not talking about the murder of a young Muslim woman, allegedly by her Hindu boyfriend, in Kadur.
Tough battle
Karnataka Congress has been basing its election campaign on its grievance against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over not granting it the funds that it says are due to it.
However, some Congress supporters feel the party needs to hit back more strongly at the BJP.
The BJP won 25 of Karnataka's 27 Lok Sabha elections in 2019.