BENGALURU: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that it does not like any other party in power. “The BJP has increased its thirst for power. It will not tolerate any other party being in power,” he said.
Speaking to media persons at Janata Dal (Secular) party’s state office JP Bhavan, he responded to the issue of Operation Lotus in Maharashtra. “The BJP’s thirst for power is so bad that it is expected that even a government with clear majority will not survive in the coming days,” he added.
However, the BJP had on Wednesday said the Maharashtra crisis is Shiv Sena’s internal matter and the party has nothing to do with it.
Expressing dissatisfaction about the ongoing political crisis in Maharastra, he said, “They are (BJP) saying that apparently, legislators are not happy with Thackeray, he has not gained the confidence of lawmakers. But the one who is playing all dirty politics behind all this is none other than the BJP. There is no doubt in it.”
“I have experienced this in Karnataka. They (BJP) also accused me of not trusting the legislators. They falsely campaigned that lawmakers were not properly treated in my government too. I gave Rs 19,000 crore to the development of the constituencies of Congress. I gave the list to the party’s legislative party leader. However, the BJP played politics and conducted Operation Lotus that toppled my government,” Kumaraswamy added.
He continued his attack on the BJP saying, “The conduct of the BJP in Maharashtra is a taint to the Constitution. It is spreading blasphemy all over the country. There is no constitutional protection left in the country today…”
On the textbook row in the state, Kumaraswamy said, “There has been a pro-opposition debate over the textbook. The Congress is speaking out against the textbook and the BJP ministers are accusing the Siddaramaiah government of framing the textbook.” He said the Siddaramaiah government had made a mistake.
A controversy surfaced last month over alleged erroneous revision in the textbooks in the state curricula. There were demands for the sacking of review committee chief Rohith Chakratirtha. A committee, headed by Chakrathirtha, was set up to examine and revise the school textbooks.
Several seers and prominent personalities had objected to a move by the state government to revise a chapter on the 12th-century reformist Basavanna.
Notably, a section of seers alleged that social reformer Basavanna’s teachings have been distorted in the revised Kannada and social science textbooks for Class 10 students. The seers also accused the review committee of insulting Vishwamanava, poet laureate Kuvempu’s state anthem.
Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda also took part in a protest against the alleged insult to Kuvempu in the textbook after being invited by the Kuvempu forum. “I am also studying what is wrong with the textbook during both governments,” he said. (ANI)