Ever since the hijab controversy broke out, last year, the Karnataka BJP which has been bracing up for the all important assembly elections in 2023, had been revitalized to play the Hindutva card in the elections. However, now seems to have been counter-productive, with Yuva BJP karyakarthas breathing fire against the Basavaraj Bommai dispensation.
It has been over 2 weeks since the brutal killing of Yuva BJP district president Parveen Nettara in Sullia, but the assailants are still at large, which became the talking point when Union Home Minister Amit Shah huddled with state BJP leaders including Chief Minister Bommai, State president Nalin Katil, Home Minister Araga Gynanedra, CT Ravi and few more. The ‘chanakya’ of the BJP was on a one day visit to Bengaluru to attend the 3rd edition of Sankalp Se Sidde conference hosted by the CII.
The telling scenes from the village of Nettara on the day of final rites had reverberated in the Delhi office of the saffron party. The vehicles of Nalin Kateel and power minister Karkala Sunil Kumar were about to be turned turtle when police resorted to lathi-charge.
The atmosphere was palpable as thousands of yuva karyakarta who came to the funeral were furious over the killing with some even saying “what’s the point in having double engine sarkars when we get butchered like this’’.
The coastal areas of Karnataka, often coined as Hindutva laboratory by the political pandits, has been the stronghold of BJP for two decades and any turn of events that puts the BJP under the dock will not be taken lightly by the top brass.
Sources privy to the meeting with Amt Shah told The Daily Guardian that the MHA was upset with the way things were being handled. “He said such incidents should be handled with an iron fist. He was mainly talking about the state home minister and raised concerns over the fact that Araga Gynanedra was seen as a weak minister. He also took up the issue of Bommai having more of an socialist outlook and a moderate who goes soft against the minorities. He advised the CM to act tough against those who perpetrate crime against Hindus and go aggressive.,’’ sources said.
While appreciating the fact that Bommai rightfully cancelled the Janothsva programme to mark 1st year of Bommai and 3rd year of BJP government, Amit supposedly told Bommai that if the intelligence and state machinery was alert and responsive, this situation of cancelling the programme wouldn’t have arrived. “There are hardly 7 months to go for elections and we need to tell people about the good work of the government and there is no time to waste,’’ sources said quoting Shah.