The Congress has accused the BJP of making desperate efforts to politicise the recent murder in T. Narsipur near here by fomenting communal trouble.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana told reporters in Mysuru on Wednesday that the BJP was trying to politically exploit the situation arising out of the murder that took place in the wake of differences arising between two groups during a recent Hanuman Jayanti celebration in T. Narsipur.
While condoling the death of Venugopal Nayak, Mr. Lakshmana said the police was conducing an impartial inquiry and arrested six persons and assured that the Congress government was committed to taking the case to the logical end by bringing the guilty to book.
He claimed that one of the six arrested was the brother of a BJP corporator in Mysuru City Corporation.
The police inquiry had revealed that the differences had arisen between the deceased and the accused over allowing the entry of a motorcycle into the temple premises and the display of a flex of late actor Puneeth Rajkumar during the procession that took place on July 8.
But, the BJP, at the instance of its Central leadership that has an eye on the coming Lok Sabha polls, was levelling false allegations against the Congress government in the State, whose popularity was soaring, he said.
Mr. Lakshmana trained his guns on right-wing ideologue Chakravarthi Sulibele for allegedly trying to spark a communal conflict over the murder. He said the Congress will submit a complaint to the Mysuru district Superintendent of Police against him on Thursday for making efforts to disturb peace in the region and making baseless allegations against Congress leader Sunil Bose in a social media post on the issue.
He also came down heavily on BJP leader C.T. Ravi for finding fault with Social Welfare Minister H.C. Mahadevappa’s failure to visit the house of the deceased person. While pointing out that Mr. Mahadevappa was unable to visit the house of the deceased as he was busy attending the Budget session of the State Legislature, he took a dig at Mr. Ravi by claiming that the BJP leader lost in the recently Assembly elections and had enough time unlike the Minister for Social Welfare.
He said the BJP’s efforts to communalise the situation like they normally do in coastal Karnataka will not yield results. The people of the State had seen the true face of the BJP and taught them a befitting lesson in the Assembly elections.
