Bengaluru: In what appears to be a knee jerk reaction to BJP leader Mr K.S. Eshwarappa’s attempts to organise the backward community under the umbrella of Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, the Congress has revived its forgotten movement, ‘AHINDA'.
At a function organised under ‘Yuva AHINDA’' in the city on Sunday, Congress leaders like Mr H.M. Revanna, V.S. Ugrappa, Chief Minister Mr Siddaramaiah's media adviser Mr Dinesh Ameen Mattu and a group of Leftist writers came down heavily on Hindutva and right wing movements.
Just before leaving the JD(S), Mr Siddaramaiah had identified himself with AHINDA, while the then Mysuru MP Mr A.H. Vishwanath was in the forefront of the movement. After he joined the Congress and became Chief Minister, the AHINDA movement went into cold storage.
The trigger for backward class and Dalit reunification came from Mr Eshwarappa’s political manouvres and AHINDA is now being revived by the Congress. Mr Revanna questioned Mr Eshwarappa's right to use Sangolli Rayanna’s name for his ‘HINDA' movement (comprising Backward classes and Dalits).
“What is his contribution to the backward classes? When Kanaka Gopura in Udupi was demolished, he had run away. And now he has suddenly remembered Rayanna. It is Mr Siddaramaiah, who created Sangolli Rayanna Authority. Mr Eshwarappa has no authority to organise people using his name,”' Mr Revanna said.
Legislative Council Member Mr V.S. Ugrappa said that there was a hidden agenda behind Mr Eshwarappa suddenly talking about backward classes and Dalits. Even students had become victims of the BJP’s hidden agenda, Mr Ugrappa said.
Leftist writers like Prof Marulasiddappa, Prof G.K. Govinda Rao, Prof S.G. Siddaramaiah and others came down heavily on Hinduva. ''This is not a Hindu Nation, this is India. Bhagvad Gita is just a book. If anyone says that that it is a religious script, why should we agree? If there were no elections, RSS would have made this a Hindu country. They have more hatred against Dalits than the Muslims. They cannot digest the reservation policy in the country,'' he said.
Stating that people had the right to criticise soldiers, writer Dr Marulasiddaiah said that like criticising the police when they make mistakes, even military personnel can be criticised. There was no need to get a certificate on who is a patriot and who is not from those who have done nothing for society, he added.
During the meeting, a hint was dropped that some section of society would lose government privileges, after the caste-based census report is made public. Mr Siddaramaiah's media adviser Mr Dinesh Ameen Mattu felt that there would be uproar once the report comes out.
130 in Congress list for chiefs of boards
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reportedly held discussions with KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar and party working president Dinesh Gundurao over the appointments to state-run boards and corporations on Saturday late night and seems to have finalised the names of almost 130 leaders during the preliminary round of discussions.
Speaking to DC, a senior leader said, “They have decided to finalise more than 130 names for 92 state-run boards and corporations. This is because they want to accommodate Mr Siddarmaiah's wish list and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi's wish list too.”
The source added Mr Gandhi had been steadfastly instructing his party leaders that any list for such postings must give preference to party workers rather than party MLAs or defeated MLAs.
“According to Mr Gandhi, providing a chance to MLAs would certainly disappoint party workers, therefore, he prefers that such postings be reserved for party workers. Mr Siddaramaiah feels exactly the opposite. He feels that providing a chance to MLAs would brighten the party's prospects in the 2018 Assembly polls,” the source said. The source added that Mr Siddaramaiah wants to accommodate at least 20 MLAs even if the party decides to choose party workers.
