Congress accuses BJP of trying to polarise voters over Waqf issue

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana has accused the BJP of trying to extract political gain out of the Waqf issue by polarising voters along communal lines ahead of the bypolls to three Assembly constituencies in the State.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana has accused the BJP of trying to extract political gain out of the Waqf issue by polarising voters along communal lines ahead of the bypolls to three Assembly constituencies in the State.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday, Mr. Lakshmana sought to clarify that the practice of issuing notices to farmers to clarify if the land belonged to Waqf or not has been on for over 70 years including during the tenures of the BJP in the State. Also, the government will remove the reference to Waqf property in their land records when it is proved that the land belonged to farmers. He clarified that the issue of notice does not mean that Waqf will take over the land and further accused the BJP of falsely inciting the farmers against the Congress government ahead of the coming byelections.

The BJP has taken up a campaign against the issue of notices, which have already been withdrawn in the wake of directions by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with an eye on the coming byelections in three Assembly constituencies in Karnataka as well as Assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. It is BJP’s “open agenda” to polarise people on religious lines and divide them as Hindus and Muslims so that they can enjoy its electoral benefits, Mr. Lakshmana alleged.

Claiming that Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Backward Classes were also the “sons of the soil”, who had as much right on the country’s resources as any other Indian, Mr. Lakshmana called upon the people of the State not to fall prey to the “cunning” politics of divide and rule played by the BJP to capture power.

Meanwhile, referring to the Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa’s reported claim that the State government will withdraw all the sites allotted by MUDA under the contentious 50:50 ratio scheme, Mr. Lakshmana said the Chief Minister has merely forwarded his letter to the Urban Development Department.

He questioned Mr. Srivatsa’s hope that all the sites allotted under the 50:50 ratio scheme will be withdrawn by the government. “How can the sites be withdrawn if they had been allotted to land losers legally under the framework of law as part of a scheme that was formulated during the BJP’s regime itself, he sought to know.

Scoffing at BJP leaders’ claims that the MUDA’s alleged scam amounted to ₹5,000 crore as 8,000 sites had been illegally allotted under the contentious 50:50 ratio scheme, Mr. Lakshmana also asked the BJP leaders to release a list of the beneficiaries.