Dharmasthala case is bogus, internal squabble between BJP and RSS: DK Shivakumar

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the controversy surrounding the Dharmasthala mass burial case was the result of internal disputes between the BJP and the RSS.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2025, Shivakumar revealed that even the Congress high command had once asked him about the issue. “My high command asked me, I do not want to disclose the name of my high command. One day when I was travelling, they asked me about this question. I told them, do not involve yourself, this is a hoax, this is all bogus,” he said.

He insisted that Congress had no role in the matter and described the entire controversy as a conspiracy. “Let Congress party not interfere at any point because I know Dharmasthala well. It is an internal squabbling between the BJP and the RSS. I am on record, 100 per cent. If you want, I will give you the documentation, I will give the statement, speeches of the then BJP president, BJP ministers of the district and the Hindu Parishad and RSS leaders, all of them,” Shivakumar said.

Conclave South: Full Coverage

The Deputy Chief Minister asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would bring the truth to light. “Of course SIT will expose it. It is on the job. We will have to share with the country. This is not a Dharmasthala problem, it has become a national problem,” he said.

Shivakumar also defended the Dharmasthala temple head Veerendra Heggade and the institution of Dharmasthala, saying it was built on faith and continued to enjoy the trust of people. “I know Veerendra Heggade and Dharmasthala, it is on faith, people believe them. There is a court, still the court is running there,” he said.

He added that those seeking to politicise the issue had initially stayed silent until he raised the matter in the Assembly. “None of them, they wanted this to happen. They thought that something would come out, none of them until I said on the Assembly floor of the House that there is a big conspiracy, none of them opened their mouths. Now everyone is trying to claim of it. Again a group goes there to do politics, goes to some XYZ’s house,” Shivakumar remarked.

- Ends