Sacking of Rajanna exposes Congress’ ‘anti-Dalit’ face, says BJP

The BJP has maintained that the sacking of Scheduled Tribes leader K.N. Rajanna from the Cabinet over his views on “voter theft” had revealed the “true anti-Dalit face” of the Congress, besides exposing the hollowness of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s claims of championing the cause of Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, OBCs, and Dalits).

In a social media post, BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra said: “This is the true face of Congress — anti-Dalit, anti-democratic and anti-truth. It also exposes the hollowness of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s claims of championing the Ahinda cause. When leaders from these communities are targeted, he does not defend them. Instead, he bows to the diktats of the Delhi high command to safeguard his own position as Chief Minister.”

He said that Mr. Rajanna, a senior Dalit leader, was removed from the State Cabinet “for merely speaking the truth.”

‘Clear pattern’

Mr. Vijayendra further claimed: “The pattern is clear. In the case of erstwhile ST Welfare Minister Nagendra, funds earmarked for the development of the community were siphoned off to finance Congress’s election expenses. Instead of holding the CM and Deputy CM accountable, the blame was placed entirely on Mr. Nagendra, and the matter was quietly closed.”

Meanwhile in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP members led by Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok raised the issue as soon as speculations about Mr. Rajanna either quitting or being sacked started doing the rounds.

Mr. Ashok urged the government and Mr. Rajanna to clarify on the issue. He even argued that Mr. Rajanna should not be sitting in the place earmarked for Ministers if he is no longer a part of the ministry.

While Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would respond to them later, Mr. Rajanna said he was told by the Law Minister not to speak. “Whether I have resigned or not will be told by the Chief Minister,” he said.

But the Chief Minister stayed away from the session, while Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who was in the session, chose not to comment on the floor of the House.

Taking exception to Mr. Rajanna and the government remaining mum, Mr. Ashok sought to remind them that it was during the protest over the honey-trap allegations made by Mr. Rajanna that 18 of the BJP MLAs had been suspended.

Meanwhile, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Arvind Bellad maintained that the sacking of Mr. Rajanna, a close aide of Mr. Siddaramaiah, was “a big blow” delivered to the Chief Minister by his deputy.