‘Are Dalits, backward classes beggars’, Bommai tears into Congress

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday asked state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar does he think “Dalits and backward classes are beggars?” Reacting to Shivakumar’s statement that Lingayats and Vokkaligas are not beggars, the Chief Minister said during a roadshow in support of the BJP candidate in Sedam, Rajkumar Patil Sedam, that the Congress has the habit of “keeping Dalits inside the well and dropping them in the same place after getting their votes”. “The Congress leaders never thought that I would become the Chief Minister. Once the new quota was implemented, the Congress leaders got scared. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken very badly about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the latter has swallowed all the criticisms and become ‘Nanjunda’ (another name for lord Shiva).” Bommai’s remark cam a day after Kharge likened Prime Minister Modi to a “poisonous snake”, drawing strong rebuke from the BJP. Kharge later retracted his comment, saying that his remarks were not aimed at the Prime Minister, but at his party.