CM Siddaramaiah: ‘Viksit Bharat’ plank is to mislead people, BJP’s hidden agenda is Hindu rashtra

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday claimed that the ‘Viksit Bharat’ plank is only an attempt to mislead people and added that the BJP has an ‘hidden agenda’ to make the country a Hindu rashtra.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the death anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at the KPCC Bharat Jodo Bhavan here, Siddarmaiah said the agenda of the BJP is not to make the country ‘Viksit Bharat, but to make it a ‘Hindu rashtra’. The CM said it is not possible to make the country into a Hindu Rashtra as it belongs to everyone. “This is a country of diversity”, he said.

“We should believe in diversity and work for the progress of the country”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. “For this, our Constitution and democracy should survive”, the CM said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ‘realised’ that the BJP-NDA will lose the General Election and hence, ‘he is speaking whatever comes to his mind’. “His is dividing Hindus and Muslim only for the sake of votes and it shows his frustration. He claims that God has sent him to work for the country till 2047. Is he God himself”? the CM questioned.

Siddaramaiah further said, “Just building roads, bridges and irrigation projects is not development. The Centre has done injustice to Karnataka by not giving the state’s share of taxes. They are the ones breaking the nation, we believe in fedaralism. The BJP was claiming that they will win all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, now they themselves are saying the Congress may win 10-12 seats”.