Unemployment and inflation have no religion: DKS

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar says the Bharatiya Janata Party in Ka

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar says the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is giving tacit support to Hindutva outfits that are raking up communal issues in the hope of electoral gains. He believes, however, that the saffron party will not get a U.P.-like result here.

Excerpts:

How do you view the series of polarising incidents in Karnataka and the Government’s response?

The BJP leaders have been raking up one or the other communal issue daily to hide the failures of the Government. The Government has no achievements to showcase before the people. They started with hijab issue and continued with banning Muslim traders from establishing shops on premises of Hindu temples. Now, they started boycotting halal meat and demanding removal of loudspeakers from mosques. Next, they picked up the issue of mango trading to target Muslim traders. The BJP leaders are giving tacit support to Hindutva outfits to divert people’s attention from real issues such as unemployment and hike in prices of fuel, LPG and other daily goods. Unemployment and inflation have no religion.

Congress has been saying these developments are aimed at elections next year. Do you believe the BJP is expecting U.P.-like result and how do you think Karnataka’s electorate will respond?

I don’t think Uttar Pradesh’s result will repeat in Karnataka. Our State is totally different. The people of Karnataka are peace loving. The BJP is spreading lies.

If you think Karnataka will not react like U.P., what are the reasons for your belief?