Why is BJP govt not banning SDPI, PFI, asks Siddaramaiah

The statement comes as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) claimed the SDPI and its parent organisation, the PFI, carried out the murder of Bajrang Dal worker Harsha.

Congress party in Karnataka on Wednesday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the delay in banning political parties Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), alleged to be behind communal violence in the state over the years.

Suggesting that the SDPI is the ‘B’ team of the BJP, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah asked why the BJP was not taking any action against the parties. (PTI)

“Basavaraj Bommai has said that the government has sufficient grounds to ban the organisations. BJP is in power and what prevents them is banning PFI?” he asked.

The statement comes as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) claimed the SDPI and its parent organisation, the PFI, carried out the murder of Bajrang Dal worker Harsha.

“I have no objection if Harsha murder case is investigated through either National Investigation Agency or any other probe agency,” Siddaramaiah said.

Suggesting that the SDPI is the ‘B’ team of the BJP, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah asked why the BJP was not taking any action against the parties.

Following the violent clash in Bengaluru’s DJ Halli area on August 11, 2020, the Karnataka government, in principle, had decided to seek a ban on the two parties. The government had alleged that the SDPI leaders were responsible for the violence in Bengaluru and have been involved in past cases. However, the proposal wasn’t acted upon.

A senior IPS officer, on condition of anonymity, said that any decision on banning an organisation should be taken by the Union Home Ministry.

Several BJP leaders, including union minister Shobha Karandlaje, had called the SDPI “a terrorist organisation”, alleging murders of Hindutva activists.

“Both the organisations have been helping the BJP from behind,” Siddaramaiah alleged, adding that former chief minister B S Yediyurappa had confirmed that those organisations are involved in D J Halli and KG Halli violence in Bengaluru. He added that the government should ban those organisations.

For the Congress party, SDPI has been a problem since it entered into Karnataka political arena as it eats into the Muslim vote bank in coastal Karnataka. In the 2018 assembly polls, out of the six seats in Uttara Kannada district, the BJP won four and took its tally to five when Shivaram Hebbar joined the party from the Congress following the political crisis a year later. In Udupi district, the BJP bagged all five seats, and in Dakshina Kannada, it won seven out of eight, leaving the Congress with one. However, in the 2013 assembly election, the results were drastically different. The Congress had won three seats in Udupi, seven in Dakshina Kannada, and three in Uttara Kannada.

Apart from the Modi wave in 2018, one of the reasons for the Congress losing so many seats was SDPI. While the SDPI did not win any assembly constituencies in the region, their vote share saw an increase. In the 2013 Karnataka assembly election, SDPI got a vote share of 3.2%, and by the 2018 election, it increased to 10.5%. SDPI also won six seats in Karnataka’s urban local body elections in December 2021.

Even though there have been clashes between the Sangh Parivar and SDPI in coastal Karnataka, the BJP has not acted on its promise to ban the SDPI. The religious polarization is a result of the conflict between these two right-wing parties. Even the votes are being polarised in the region.

BJP‘s Karnataka spokesperson Ganesh Karnik blamed Muslims for rallying behind the hijab cause and said the row could unite Hindus. “If they take a stand, the Hindu community will also take a stand. Our young girls and boys are not happy with getting a special privilege….about the elections we are confident of retaining power in Karnataka state elections next year,” he said.

Congress, which is already on the back foot in the region because of the polarisation, has stated as part of its new strategy. “We had enough of their double game. In public, they blame SDPI and PFI, but at the same time, they are letting them grow. Whatever public statements that are given are just an eye-wash, the truth is that both (SDPI and BJP) are working together,” said a senior Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office-bearer.

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra didn’t respond to HT’s calls for response to Siddaramaiah’s demands.