'Taliban, terrorist': Karnataka BJP-Cong leaders stoop low to trade barbs

Taliban has turned into an ugly word in political parlance, it seems. An nasty spat broke out between the Congress and BJP leaders in Karnataka, as they traded insults of the worst kind they knew, by calling each other ‘Talibani and terrorists’!

After a few BJP workers had allegedly intercepted a vehicle carrying Muslim and Christian youngsters near Mangalore, the former Chief Minister and the leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah launched an attack on the BJP equating them and the RSS to the Taliban.

He had said that stopping vehicles and harassing young people on “mere suspicion shows BJP’s Taliban mindset”. “The RSS is an extra-constitutional authority. It is a dangerous organisation,” he had commented.

Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel swiftly retaliated by dubbing Siddaramaiah a “Bhayotpaadaka” (terrorist), said media reports. “I feel that Siddaramaiah himself is a ‘Bhayotpaadaka’ (terrorist),” he said, adding that whenever the Congress leaders feels that he is in a precarious situation in his party, he makes these grand statements. “His is a Taliban culture,” he told reporters.

Twenty-four Hindu workers were killed during Siddaramaiah’s tenure, he said, reeling off instances like the time a female college student was attacked at Sullia. “All this happened during his rule, this is Taliban culture… as most number of murders, extortions, and daily cow slaughters used to happen during his period…where does he have morality?” questioned Kateel.

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Calling the Congress a “sinking ship”, Kateel claimed that “several people” from that party were waiting to join the BJP. The BJP MLA, CT Ravi, too dived into the discourse to slam Siddaramaiah’s Taliban comment and invited him to join the RSS to understand it better.

In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah, who was not in short of words, returned with a comeback calling Ravi a “fake Hindu”. He questioned the RSS-BJP’s commitment towards Hindus, said a News18 report.

“Who is RSS to claim that they protect the Hindus? Are they elected by the people? Do they have any constitutional sanctity? Protesting farmers in Delhi to a raped Dalit girl UP are also Hindus. What is RSS doing about them? We will defeat your Talibani mindset through constitutional methods,” Siddaramaiah warned.

Other Congress and BJP leaders too are resorting to trading “Talibani” insults. The Congress attacked the BJP saying that terrorist groups allegedly nursed by the BJP have unleashed ‘goondaagiri’ in the state. Just like the Taliban, the BJP is attacking the sons and daughters of others, adding that the saffron party has been Talibanised, said a new Minute report.

Also, in this war of words, the Congress responded to BJP’s jibe over Siddaramaiah’s ‘dhoti’ coming off during the Assembly session last week. The Congress argued that the ‘dhoti’ is a symbol of Karnataka’s culture, which can be tied back again. But videos of BJP leaders removing their pants were not natural and neither was bringing stay orders against broadcasting the CDs, the Congress said, referring to the alleged sex CD case involving former minister Ramesh Jarakiholi, added the NewsMinute report.

While Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai made himself invisible in this mud-slinging match, the last word on this enlightening political discourse in the state went to a senior Congress leader from Karnataka. The leader told News18 that people don’t know what Taliban is or what it stands for. So, he suggested that the state government should send a delegation of MLAs and MLCs to Afghanistan to study and understand Taliban, after which, they would not use the words like Taliban so loosely or carelessly.