BJP accuses Karnataka chief minister of sedition; seeks action

The Karnataka unit of the BJP accused Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy of sedition over his remark asking people to rise in revolt against the saffron party on Friday. In a complaint to the Director General of Police (DGP) Neelamani N Raju, the BJP alleged that the chief minister had violated section 124(A) (relating to sedition) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Holding placards and raising slogans against former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his sons, including Kumaraswamy, the BJP staged a protest near the Mysore Bank Circle, the nerve centre of the city, terming the chief minister’s remark as a “call for anarchy.”

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“Kumaraswamy, who holds a constitutional post, has given a call for people to rise in revolt,” BJP MP from Udupi Chikkamagaluru constituency Shobha Karandlaje said.

Karandlaje said the person who was supposed to protect the Constitution and citizens of the country was “provoking” people.

“Whatever was in Kumaraswamy’s mind finally came out in the form of words,” the BJP MP charged.

Another BJP parliamentarian Prahlad Joshi termed the statement as the “most irresponsible and unpardonable offence” and said the chief minister’s choice of words displayed his state of mind.

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Upset over the alleged toppling game of the BJP, an angry Kumaraswamy had on Thursday warned BJP to be restrained in its speech about Gowda and his family, saying he can even ask people to rise in revolt against it if it continued to disturb Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition government headed by him.

Launching a no-holds-barred attack on state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, Kumaraswamy had said: “If you dig too much (into our affairs), then we too have many things at our disposal.”

“Government is in our hand. Don’t I have the authority to do whatever I can? I caution him to be careful,” he added.

Hitting back, Yeddyurappa said if the state government was with Kumaraswamy, the central government was with the BJP.

Soon after, Congress and JD(S) activists staged a demonstration outside Yeddyurappa’s house raising slogans against him for his alleged attempts to destabilise the coalition government.

The BJP condemned the demonstration, saying that the state government was trying to muzzle the voice of the Opposition, which showed its “anti-democratic face”.

(With PTI inputs)