Ministers who took stance against minorities

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: As the Congress party in Karnataka won a resounding victory in the Assembly elections, eight defectors who joined the BJP in 2019, helping the party to topple the Congress-JD(S) government bite the dust as they tasted defeat. Two of them are K Sudhakar and BC Nagesh, who staunchly launched their propaganda against the minorities.

K Sudhakar was minister of Medical Education and Health, who jumped ship from Congress to prove loyalty to the BJP in 2019. Congress candidate Pradeep Eshwar pushed him to suffer a humiliating defeat by over 10,642 votes. Eshwar polled 86,224 votes while Sudhakar got 75,582 votes. He is known for his alleged remark against the Tabligi Jamat, a Muslim group, which he said was the solely responsible for the contagious Covid-19 in India.

He allegedly called them terrorists and sought for a ‘shoot at sight’ order. While the issue didn’t settle for some time, the minister was also in headlines for reportedly slapping a Covid-19 worker at a hospital in the Chikkaballapur district, for which he later apologised once the issue went viral on social media.

Failing to provide adequate facilities for healthcare workers to reserve beds for the people of his constituency amid the peak of Covid are some of the allegations against the minister. On the other hand, is BC Nagesh, minister for School Education, who lost the race against Congress candidate K Shadakshari in Tiptur.

Shadakshari won the election by a significant margin of 17,652 votes, receiving 71,999 votes, while Nagesh got 54,347 votes. Nagesh started the antihijab propaganda in educational institutions across the state, which saw huge protests in support of five young Muslim women students who dared the order by taking it to the Supreme Court.

However, the case remains unresolved. He also allegedly tried saffronisation of textbooks but withdrew after facing a heavy backlash from the opposition parties, Kannada organisations, and the civil society at large.