BJP-led Union government did not ban SDPI to divide votes: Siddaramaiah
The Hindu
The former Chief Minister was adressing the people as part of the Prajadhwani Yatra of the Congress in Udupi
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on January 22 that the BJP-led Union government did not ban the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) with an intention to divide votes.
Addressing the Prajadhwani Yatra of the Congress in Udupi, Mr. Siddaramaiah likened the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the SDPI to the BJP. He said that the Union government banned only the PFI leaving its political wing SDPI out of the ban to ensure that the votes get divided.
Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress government led by him had not released any PFI or SDPI activists involved in criminal activities or communal violence from jail as claimed by the BJP leaders. The BJP was making baseless allegations in this regard, he said.
Claiming that the Congress was the only secular party in the country, the former CM said that Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi was the first terrorist. Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were victims of terrorism, he added.
The Congress leader said that while Hindus believed in humanity, the supporters of Hindutva opposed it. The RSS and the BJP which promoted Hindutva did not believe in the Constitution, he alleged.
“None of the RSS or the present BJP leaders participated in the freedom struggle. Show me any one,” he said.