Karnataka Chief Minister BS Bommai met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at the India Today conference on Saturday and exchanged pleasantries. However, the photo of Bommai standing with his hands folded in front of Kharge is at the core of a fresh controversy in poll-bound Karnataka, as Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate captioned the photo as: ‘Outgoing PayCM requesting pardon for stealing Karnataka’.
A Lingayat chief minister is the source of all corruption in the state, former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said while criticizing the BJP’s Lingayat agenda in the state.” All in all, the BJP claimed that the Congress had insulted the Lingayat minority. Bommai’s folding of his hands in front of Kharge, according to BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, was the best display of political civility ever. The DNA of the Congress, according to Shehzada, is to insult the Lingayat community.
According to Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the chief minister’s admiration for Mallikarjun Kharge has devolved into an insult. “Karnataka voters will restore these leaders to their rightful place,” the minister said. Siddaramaiah defended his statement, saying it is unfortunate that the BJP’s Lingayat leaders cannot understand the true adversary and are blaming the Congress for being anti-Lingayat. He stressed that his statement was not intended for the entire community but rather for one specific CM.
“It is improper for a former CM to make such a statement. The Brahmin group had already been mocked, according to his claims that the whole Lingayat community is corrupt. In the past, while he was the Chief Minister, he attempted to split the Lingayat-Veerashaiva community. In response to Siddaramaiah’s ‘Lingayat’ remark, Bommai declared that the state’s citizens would teach him a lesson.