Egg attack: Siddu flays BJP govt

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru The egg attack on the car of Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah in Kodagu on Thursday, has given much-needed fodder to the Congress Party to step up its attack on the ruling BJP.

 Of late, the former CM has stepped up his attack on Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar claiming that he was not a freedom fighter and came out of jail by giving an undertaking to the British government that he would not participate in the freedom struggle.

At the same time, skirmishes occurred in Shivamogga City on Monday when some miscreants removed the picture of Savarkar that was put up in a minority-dominated area and came in handy for him to attack the Sangh parivar.

The BJP has taken the Savarkar issue seriously and launched agitations across the State against Siddaramaiah.

A few Hindu activists put up portraits of Savarkar in temples and important circles in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

 Now, the egg attack on Siddaramaiah has become a big political issue.

Agitated over the egg attack, Siddaramaiah has declared that he will lay siege to the office of the Superintendent of Police of Kodagu on August 26 against the failure of the police to provide him security.

“We (the Congress Party) are not going to sit quiet...We will set the State on fire. Can’t you put those activists behind bars? Are you hand-in-glove with RSS goondas? Is the police department having fun by allowing the protest to happen?” Meanwhile, Congress workers of two districts staged a dharna on Thursday against the egg attack on their leader.

Others took the social media to slam BJP leaders for resorting to undemocratic ways to vent their anger on the former CM. Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai said “Mr Siddaramaiah, as leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly is holding a respectable position. If he has reservations on some issues, he must back it with supporting evidence and not in the manner he has done by expressing his feelings”.

The slew of protests against him has left Siddaramaiah upset and the Congress is expected to draw political mileage from the issue in the next few days