Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has found himself embroiled in a controversy just days before the elections in Karnataka. The controversy arose after Siddaramaiah made comments about the Lingayat community, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been quick to seize on.
Siddaramaiah’s statement, “There’s already a Lingayat CM. He is the root cause of all corruption in the state,” was seen by the BJP as an attempt to demonize the entire Lingayat community. The BJP has launched a strong attack on the former Chief Minister in response to the comments.
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The BJP accused Siddaramaiah of trying to break the Lingayat-Veerashaiva community during his tenure as Chief Minister and of ridiculing the Brahmin community in the past. Chief Minister Bommai criticized Siddaramaiah’s statement, saying that it was not right for a former CM to make such a comment about an entire community.
Siddaramaiah was quick to clarify his statement, saying that he was referring only to the current Chief Minister of Karnataka and not to the entire Lingayat community. He claimed that his words were taken out of context by the BJP.
Lingayat community is a big community in Karnataka, they (BJP) accept BS Yediyurappa as their leader, and Jagadish Shettar was always in the second position. They also disrespected Yediyurappa by bringing him down from the CM post, which is why he cried when he resigned: Congress… pic.twitter.com/jgb9BrLTWY
— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023
After Rahul Gandhi called all OBCs ‘chor’, it is Siddaramaiah’s turn to make insensitive and hurtful comment tarnishing a community. He called all members of the Lingayat community corrupt, who are ruining the state.
Earlier Congress tried to break the Veerashaiva Lingayat… pic.twitter.com/ta7NnvVhkQ
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 22, 2023
The controversy is likely to have an impact on the upcoming elections in Karnataka, as the Lingayat community is a key voting bloc in the state. The BJP has been trying to consolidate support among the community, while the Congress has been attempting to make inroads into the BJP’s vote bank.
