Congress activists staged a protest in the city on Sunday and burned the posters of BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde for his incendiary statements on mosques and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The MP had remarked that other mosques need to be reclaimed for temple construction besides holding Mr. Siddaramaiah as an “enemy”. The MP had stated that Congress was not the enemy but Mr. Siddaramaiah was, and this triggered outrage among the party workers.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Harish Gowda said that legal action would be initiated by the party against the BJP MP and described him as “lacking in culture”.
Mr. Gowda lashed out at Mr. Hegde for his remarks and said that BJP had failed to rein in the MP and added that the Congress would get him prosecuted.
Hitting out at Mysuru MP Pratap Simmha for his remarks that Congress had nothing to do with Sri Rama temple at Ayodhya, Mr. Gowda said that Lord Rama belonged to everyone and he too would visit Ayodhya after the consecration. “Lord Rama is the essence of Indian culture and it is not just the BJP followers who worship him or have read the Ramayana,” he added.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in Mysuru filed a complaint against the BJP MP and urged the police to register a case against him for incendiary statements.
The Congress leaders here said that the BJP MP’s remarks on a mosque near Bhatkal were fraught with danger and could stoke communal feelings ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Accusing Mr. Hegde of instigating, Congress sought legal action against him and sought his arrest.
