MYSURU: The BJP president Amit Shah seems to have become controversy’s child. Within days of his foot in the mouth klanger when he mistakenly maligned his own chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa as ‘the most corrupt’ when he actually meant Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the BJP leader was forced on to his back foot as he faced the wrath of sloganeering Dalits at a party meet in Mysuru, here on Friday.
The angry Dalits were demanding the ouster of Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde for his controversial statements on secularism, calls to amend the Constitution and describing protestors as “street dogs”.
On the very first day of his tour of Old Mysore region, where he reached out to the powerful Suttur Mutt seer and scion of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru, Yaduveer Wadiyar, Mr Shah was visibly embarrassed during an interaction with Dalit leaders and BJP leader and former Congress Union minister V. Srinivas Prasad, raking up the issue of disciplinary action against Mr Hegde. He was soon joined by others with Dalit leader, Mr Chornahalli Shivanna, demanding the minister's ouster. Mr Shivanna was swiftly whisked away from the venue by policemen to prevent more trouble but that didn't prevent the situation from getting completely out of hand as Mr Shah chose to answer only a few questions even though many were posed to him.
The BJP leader tried to placate the leaders with an assurance that the party had nothing to do with Mr Hegde's statements but the ruckus continued unabated with almost all present at the venue demanding Mr Shah's hand-picked cabinet minister's dismissal. Mr Hegde’s elevation has upset the Yeddyurappa camp, particularly his associate Shobha Karandlaje who also hails from the Coastal districts. Mr Pratap Simha, the local MP, tried to pacify the protesters, but the situation turned chaotic.
Some of the protesting Dalit leaders were taken into custody by policemen deployed at the closed door session. Making the most of Mr Shah’s embarrassment during the meeting with Dalits, the state unit of Congress tweeted: “Amit Shah, why can't you answer legitimate questions raised today in Mysuru about BJP Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde insulting Dalits? Why haven't you taken any action against your party man for such derogatory comments? This clearly shows that BJP endorses his hate-mongering.”
The BJP placed the blame for the ruckus at the BJP’s door, saying in a tweet: “Not able to digest the fact that BJP has become the default choice of Dalits in the country, CM Siddu resorted to one more cheap gimmick.” “He sent his goons to create ruckus in Shri @AmitShah's public meeting.” “Gosh! Is there a contest b/w you and Mamata on who is more worst? (sic)” it said.
In his tweet, Mr Pratap Simha said “Dear @CMofKarnataka n @INCKarnataka your party workers tried to create ruckus in @AmitShah ji’s program. We can do the same in every program you attend. Better stop it.”
