“Even my dead body will not join the BJP,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said while rejecting allegations that he had met BJP leader L.K. Advani years ago to join the party.
When his attention was drawn to former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s reference to Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad’s reported claim that Mr. Siddaramaiah had met Mr. Advani to join the BJP, Mr. Siddaramaiah laughed it off while questioning if anybody can even imagine him joining the saffron party.
He said he had fought against communal forces throughout his political career. He said he may have met Mr. Advani like he recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “Just because we meet the BJP leaders does not mean we have sacrificed our principles,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
He vowed to never compromise with communal forces for any reason whether he was in power or without power.
He recalled the initial days of his political career with Socialist Party and later with the Janata Party. He said the BJP/RSS, who had joined forces with the Janata Party, were forced out by socialist leader Madhu Limaye after he opposed the dual membership they had sought.
The Constitution had made it clear that there should be tolerance to other religions and caste as India was a plural society.
He said the JD(S) was aligning with the BJP for the sake of “family politics”, but refused to elaborate further saying he will talk about it at a later date.
When his attention was drawn to Mysuru MP Pratap Simha’s threat to stop the Mahisha Dasara scheduled to be celebrated atop Chamundi Hills, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would not like to respond to the MP.
