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Congress, BJP trade barbs over remarks on RSS
Siddaramaiah slammed Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, the president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s SC Morcha and newly elected to the upper house of the state legislature, over a picture of him carrying a box of shorts on his head.
Leader of Opposition and former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah continued his attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday after he said it was a ‘non-secular organisation’ and that the top brass of the saffron outfit was never given to a Dalit or anyone from marginalised classes.
In the what is being now called the “Chaddi row”, the controversy started after some members National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, burnt a pair of khaki shorts, the traditional outfit of the RSS, outside state education minister BC Nagesh’s residence against the alleged “saffronisation” of school textbooks in the state.
“I am telling you from the beginning that RSS is a non-secular organisation. Has a Dalit, OBC or a member of minority communities ever become Sarsanghchalak? What else can chaddis do? They do chaddi work only, chaddis do chaddi work,” said Siddramaiah in Hubli.
Later, the senior Congress leader also slammed Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, the president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s SC Morcha and newly elected to the upper house of the state legislature, over a picture of him carrying a box of shorts on his head.
“Mr Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, please read the lesson of self-respect from Baba Saheb Ambedkar is the only advice I would give you,” Siddaramaiah said in a post on Twitter.
The BJP has retaliated to Siddaramaiah’s relentless attacks on the RSS by collecting old shorts from several villages in Mandya and other places and sending them to the Congress office after the opposition leader said that it would continue to burn these ‘Chaddis’ as a sign of protest against the RSS.
“Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has no other issue to speak about other than about the RSS,” Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister, said on Tuesday.
“People of Karnataka are watching everything. People are concerned about the development of the state and their future. It would be better if he(Siddaramaiah) speaks about it,” he added.
BJP leader Narayanswamy asked Siddaramaiah to seek permission from the pollution control board as burning chaddis would cause air pollution.
“If Siddaramaiah wants to burn chaddis, let him burn inside his house. I have told all District Presidents of SC Morcha to help Siddarammiah by sending their chaddis to him. Firstly, I ask Siddaramaiah to seek permission from the pollution control board because burning chaddis causes air pollution. I never thought Siddaramaiah would stoop to this level,” he said, ANI reported
