The political scene is heating up in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha election, with the Congress on Sunday asking people to reject the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its stand on the Constitution even as poll preparation in the saffron party is under way.
Urging people to discard the BJP-RSS for dividing society and opposing the Constitution, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said the backward classes, Dalits, and oppressed communities should clearly identify their enemy. “Develop self-respect. Identify the enemy of the backward classes, Dalits, and oppressed classes and discard them. Teach people who are opposed to the Constitution or who want to change the Constitution a lesson. If we protect the Constitution, it will protect us,” he said addressing a convention of the oppressed classes, organised in Chitradurga by the Karnataka Backward Classes Federation and Karnataka Oppressed Caste-Communities Federation.
He said the BJP and the RSS have opposed the Mandal commission report, and that the two are opposed to the concept of social justice and equal opportunities. He said, “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had warned that the power should not go into hands of those opposed to the Constitution, reservation, and social justice. We should not forget this warning. If the Constitution was not there, BJP leaders such as C.T. Ravi, K.S. Eshwarappa, and R. Ashok would not have entered legislature but be working in some agricultural fields.” He said that people also oppose him because a shepherd’s son has become the Chief Minister and implemented people-friendly schemes that reach all castes and communities.
