Former PM Deve Gowda dials KCR, announces support to 'fight against BJP's polarization politics'
Hyderabad, Feb 15: Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday telephoned Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and extended support to the latter's "fight" against the alleged polarization politics of BJP.
Rao told Gowda he would visit Bengaluru and meet him on the issue, a CMO release said.
"Rao Saab, you are fighting very well. Every one should fight against the communal elements. To protect our country's secularism, culture and its diverse culture we will be with you and support you. Continue your fight and our total support will be there for you," the release quoted Gowda as saying.
Rao, who has been critical of the BJP and its-led Central government on a number of issues, on Sunday said he will soon have meetings with his Maharashtra and West Bengal counterparts, Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee, respectively, as part of the efforts to unite various political parties against the saffron party and the NDA Government.
He had said he may go to Mumbai anytime soon to meet Thackeray while the West Bengal CM is expected to meet him here.
Holding that the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government should be dumped for its alleged anti-people policies, Rao had said he would play a major role in uniting anti-BJP political parties.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
