K’taka minister defends controversial remark justifying violence against rivals

Karnataka rural development and panchayat raj minister K S Eshwarappa on Monday defended his statement encouraging Bharatiya Janata Party workers to “hit back with the same strength” if any party worker is harmed by any political adversary

Karnataka rural development and panchayat raj minister K S Eshwarappa on Monday defended his statement encouraging Bharatiya Janata Party workers to “hit back with the same strength” if any party worker is harmed by any political adversary. However, Opposition Congress criticised the minister’s remarks and called for his dismissal from the cabinet.

Karnataka, August 06 (ANI): Karnataka Minister K. S. Eshwarappa with others inspects the flood-affected areas of Kodagu Majare, in Bekshe Kenjagudde Mandagadde on Friday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

The minister made the controversial remarks on Sunday, while addressing party workers at an event held in his home district of Shivamogga. “Today, the BJP has grown the world over, and if a BJP worker is touched anywhere in any corner, the instruction is to hit back with the same stick. In the past, the decision was to stay calm at all costs... We have become very strong,” Eshwarappa said.

Defending his statement on Monday, Eshwarappa told reporters “Do we have to be silent even if our women are raped? Our cows are stolen and killed, and our youth assaulted and killed -- you want us to remain silent?”

At the Sunday meeting, the minister also told the party workers that there was a time when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the party, and BJP top leaders used to ask party workers “to stay calm at all costs”, but now the situation has changed. “... We had to be calm, irrespective of the situation and how much we were attacked. We did not have the strength.”

Eshwarappa’s remarks drew sharp criticism from the Opposition Congress, which demanded that the Governor immediately sack him.

“His (Eshwarappa’s) remarks are against the spirit of the Constitution. He has made such remarks to draw attention from the RSS because he didn’t get the deputy chief minister post,” said senior state Congress leader, VS Ugrappa.

Afsar Kodipet, the spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), also echoed Congress’s stance and said that Eshwarappa must be removed from the cabinet immediately. “The Speaker must expel him from the Legislature, the chief minister must drop him from the Cabinet,” he said.

State home minister Araga Jnanendra refused to comment on the matter.