Karnataka: BJP leader Yatnal demands arrest of Congress MLC Hariprasad for 'possibility of Godhra-like incident' remark

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 3 (ANI): BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Wednesday slammed Congress MLC BK Hariprasad for his statement that there is a possibility of a 'Godhra-like incident' in Karnataka and demanded his arrest for instigating a "riot for the Lok Sabha elections".
"This man (Hariprasad) should be arrested and interrogated; has the Congress party hatched such a conspiracy against Ram devotees? It is clear that the Congress party is trying to create a riot for the Lok Sabha elections," Yatnal posted on X.
BK Hariprasad had told reporters that a Godhra-like situation can be created in Karnataka also. The state government should be on high alert to prevent any untoward incident. The government should provide all the arrangements for the people who wish to go to Ayodhya for the Ram Temple consecration ceremony on January 22, he said.
"The fundamental duty of any government is to protect the lives and property of its people. When you go back to the history of the BJP, when there was Godra and Pulwama, a lot of disturbance and lives were lost. The BJP is a habitual offender and it can do anything. In Ayodhya, it is not a religious programme but a political program. CMs of MP, Rajasthan are 'kar sewaks'...This is my personal statement, not the party's," MLC BK Hariprasad told ANI.
The BJP leaders, however, slammed the MLC for his comment. Hariprasad's comments also came amid the tussle between Congress and the BJP over the arrest of a kar sevak in Hubballi.
The kar sevak, Srikanth Poojari was arrested recently for his alleged involvement in violence after the Babri masjid demolition in 1992. The arrest was made in a long-pending case and the police said that it was a routine process to trace accused persons in such cases.
However, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for "politicising" the arrest of a kar sevak (volunteer) in Hubballi and said that his government will not indulge in politics of hatred.
"Don't we need to punish those who have done wrong? Are they (BJP) protesting saying that they shouldn't be punished?" Siddaramaiah asked while speaking to reporters at his Home Office Krishna here.
The kar sevak, Srikanth Poojari, was arrested recently for his alleged involvement in violence after the Babri masjid demolition in 1992. The arrest was made in a long-pending case and the police said that it was a routine process to trace accused persons in such cases. (ANI)