Congress’ links with SDPI, PFI must be exposes, says Union minister Shobha Karandlaje

BENGALURU: Union Minsiter of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje, on Friday said the truth about the links between the Congress, the SDPI and the banned PFI should be investigated.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here, she said the Congress’ links with the SDPI should be exposed. “We are not worried about splitting of votes, we are concerned about the nation.

On Thursday, SDPI leader and Bantwal Assembly constituency candidate Elyas Thumbe had said, “In the Assembly election held five years ago, we had decided to contest from 25 seats. When our campaign was picking up, some of our Muslim leader and very senior leaders of the Congress requested us personally that we should have an understanding of some sort to prevent the BJP from winning. They said the SDPI should contest from three Assembly seats and they would contest from the remaining seats and also offered full support of the Congress”.

On Thursday evening, SDPI candidate Elyas Thumbe spoke about the understanding they had with the Congress.

Shobha Karandlaje further said, “In the Mangaluru cooker blast case, though the accused had admitted to it, Congress state president D K Shivakumar says he’s a good person. Activists of the KFD and PFI have been caught in the murder of Rudresh and Praveen Nettaru, but the Congress leaders continue to appease them. The party’s government withdrew cases aganist them, strengthened cases against our activists and gave them Shaadi Bhagya”.

Further, she said, “Rahul Gandhi speaks against the country and the Prime Minister. This shows the mentality of the Congress and its links with the SDPI must be exposed. After the PFI was banned, the activists joined the SDPI and the latter is nothing but a mouthpiece of the former. After the Siddaramaiah government withdrew cases against PFI activists, they came out and indulged in murders”.

Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, who, the BJP claims, killed Tipu Sultan.

On JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy’s opposition to BJP MLA and filmmaker Munirathna registering a title for a film on Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the Union minister said Tipu Sultan was anti-national, anti-Hindu and anti-Kannada. “Tipu used to throw Hindus who opposed him from the Tipu Drop at Nandi Hills. Historical records mention about Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda and they were followers of the Mysore kings. They stamped their place in the pages of history by killing Tipu Sultan”, she said.

On the Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda Gate near Mandya, she said the one erected during the expressway inauguration was a temporary one. On the construction of a permanent structure, she said it was party general secretary C T Ravi’s personal opinion.