‘BJP has turned Karnataka into Gujarat of South’

Deve Gowda has alleged that minorities were at the receiving end of Sangh Parivar 'fanatics' in Karnataka.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday alleged that minorities were at the receiving end of Sangh Parivar ‘fanatics’ in Karnataka and charged ruling BJP with attempting to turn the state into the “Gujarat of south”.

“Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has lived upto his promise that he would implement a ‘Gujarat Model’ in the state”, he said in his caustic remarks a day after some churches were attacked allegedly by pro-Hindu groups in the state.

“Karnataka has today emerged as the worst terror and communal hub among all the southern states,” the JD(S) leader told reporters in Bangalore.

“The violence in Tiptur and the attacks on churches in Davangere, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Mangalore are manifestations of the manner in which the Sangh Parivar organisations are fast spreading their tentacles across the state and turning it into a Gujarat of the south,” he said.

Targeting senior BJP leader L K Advani, Gowda said he was shocked to find that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate did not express any concern over the situation in the state.

“Has the mask of secularism that the octogenarian Advani was trying to wear by describing Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah as secular, terming the demolition of Babri Masjid as a ‘black day’ and paying obeisance at the Ajmer Dargah come off, as he gets into a ‘must win’ mode in his hurry to occupy 7, Race Course Road?” he asked.

Gowda sought the immediate resignation of state Home Minister V S Acharya owning moral responsibility for the “spate of violence against minorities”.