Rahul Gandhi's disqualification a campaign issue in poll-bound Karnataka, says Veerappa Moily
Bengaluru(PTI): The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha member would be a campaign issue for the Congress in the Assembly elections in Karnataka and it would contribute to the defeat of the BJP government in the state, senior party leader M Veerappa Moily said on Monday.
In an interview with PTI, the former Karnataka chief minister said there is a "groundswell" of support for the Congress in the state, and his party's campaign on corruption issues have worked, while the BJP is facing a "strong, anti-incumbency wave".
"Definitely, it (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification following his conviction and sentencing by a Surat court) will be a campaign issue," the former Union minister said.
Asked if the disqualification issue would serve to the "political advantage" of the Congress in the poll-bound state, Moily said: "It's everywhere in the country; after all, it (the issue) shows that it's the peak of vendetta politics".
He said the issue would create a sympathy wave in part for the Congress becoming "one of the factors that will be responsible for the fall of the BJP".
Moily said his party's campaign is far more aggressive than the ruling BJP, which is concentrating more on the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah image, adding that the Congress would also focus on "exposing" the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led government and their "revengeful politics".
He alleged that the BJP government has "messed up" the reservation issue in Karnataka.
Moily was referring to the Basavaraj Bommai government's recent decision on scrapping four per cent reservation for Muslims within the OBC category and earmarking an additional two per cent each to Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities and creating four sub-categories to introduce internal quota for different Dalit communities under the SC category.
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BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
