To defeat the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the Congress leader and former deputy chief minister of Karnataka, Gangadharaiah Parmeshwara has sought help from the Social Democratic Party of India (SDI) which is a student wing of the banned terror-outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
In an interview with Times Now, he said, “we appeal to the minority section that supports us and it is the Muslims’ safety, security, development and welfare.”
He further continued- “We must appeal to them The Bhartiya Janta Party believes in polarising people based on religion and caste. We need to defeat that concept in India. So, we need support, whether it is SDPI or any other organisation, we must appeal to them.”
The Congress leader and stalwart is a potential ministerial candidate if the party manages to grab power in the state. However, his appalling comments are not in isolation but are part of a long list of Congress leaders who have expressed the same desire.
After the SDPI threatened to go alone in the Karnataka Assembly polls, the state Congress Campaign Committee Chief M.B. Patil said- “Even now we expect that the SDPI supports Congress to defeat the BJP. The Congress is a secular party and SDPI can only divide the votes and not win seats.”
The State President of the SDPI, Abdul Majeed revealed that the Congress leaders have approached them for a political alliance before the upcoming elections in the southern state of Karnataka.
“Nobody has approached us, only some individual Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) have asked for support, but we have not discussed anything on it yet,” he said.
“Even Congress and the Janta Dal-Secular (JDS) MLAs have approached us, but we have not taken any decision right now,” he declared. “To defeat the BJP, we will support the required candidate.”
Majeed’s party is being criticised by the BJP for giving a ticket to Shafi Bellare. He is accused of the murder of BJP worker Praveen Nettaru who was targeted by the killer squad of the PFI.
The Government of India banned the PFI in 2022 for five years for undertaking unlawful activities which are prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of the country under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act).
According to a chargesheet filed and submitted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (MATS), in February 2023, the Islamist group intended for India to become a Sharia-compliant Muslim nation by 2047.
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