In the last two weeks, nearly half a dozen leaders of the BJP invited criticism from the Opposition and public alike.
Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai, BJP Karnataka President Nalin Kumar Kateel with other BJP leaders at LP meeting (File Photo. Supplied)
A video of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Arvind Limbavali abusing and intimidating a woman went viral on Saturday. His misbehaviour with the woman drew severe flak from the Opposition and public alike.
Limbavali, however, wasn’t the only BJP leader in Karnataka to find himself under fire. In the last 10 days, nearly half a dozen BJP leaders — including ministers — have come under severe criticism for their statements and actions.
From former chief minister and BJP parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa giving a “clean chit” to a seer accused of child sexual abuse to Anand Singh — a minister — being booked for intimidating a Dalit family that attempted self-immolation, the list is not insignificant.
BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali seen abusing a woman who had come to meet him on Saturday, 3 September. (South First)
Controversies around Karnataka BJP leaders at a time when the elections are around the corner have left the party embarrassed.
Mahadevapura MLA Limbavali was caught on camera yelling at and abusing a woman — Ruth Sagay Mary — who was attempting to give him a petition.
The MLA insisted that the woman had illegally encroached upon a stormwater drain causing inconvenience to citizens in his constituency. The MLA deemed the woman an “arrogant” Congress worker.
Am ready to apologise.
But your party karyakarthe Mary had encroached rajakaluve & was creating problems to people since last several years.
Ask your party karyakarthe to vacate it.
Ask her to stop her arrogance! https://t.co/xveoqmXQK1 pic.twitter.com/xqu8eik9p9
— Aravind Limbavali (@ArvindLBJP) September 3, 2022
With Opposition leaders as well as the general public appalled at the MLA’s misbehaviour, Limbavali only made matters worse in the way when he defended his behaviour.
“What have I done? Have I raped her,” an agitated Limbavali told a Kannada channel during an interview on Saturday.
His statement further fuelled an already raging controversy. Sources in the BJP suggest that the central leadership of the BJP have taken note of the MLA’s statements.
I cannot even begin to explain how despicable this man is! We now hear that an FIR has been registered against the lady and the pathetic MLA hasn’t even apologised.
Congratulations BJP! New lows every day! https://t.co/pHoxf31Z7X
— Aiyshwarya Mahadev | ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯ ಮಂಚನಹಳ್ಳಿ ಮಹದೇವ (@AiyshwaryaM) September 3, 2022
Barely three days before Limbavali’s misbehaviour drew flak, Karnataka Tourism Minister Anand Singh was booked under the SC/ST Atrocities Act.
On 30 August, D Polappa — hailing from the Dalit community — and his entire family doused themselves in petrol in front of the office of the Hospet Superintendent of Police.
The Dalit family’s attempt to self-immolate was thwarted by police personnel who subsequently registered a case of attempt to suicide against them.
In a different FIR, a copy of which is with South First, the police booked Singh for allegedly intimidating Polappa and threatening to “burn him alive”.
Karnataka’s Minister for Tourism and Ecology Anand Singh. (File photo. anandsinghBS/Twitter)
According to Polappa’s complaint, Anand Singh and his aides landed outside his house at around 1.45 pm on 30 August and manhandled him while hurling verbal abuses and threats.
“The minister threatened me and said ‘How many times should I tell you not to interfere in my matters? If you continue to make allegations against me, I will pour petrol on you and set you ablaze and leave your family helpless’. I was also manhandled,” Polappa said, according to the FIR.
The local police booked Singh and three of his aides under IPC Sections 504 and 506, as well as under the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC/STs Act. No action has been initiated against the minister yet.
Polappa, in his complaint, alleged that his tryst with Singh began some six-seven months ago, when he held a press conference detailing the alleged illegal encroachment of stormwater drains by the minister during the construction of his new bungalow.
Ironically, Limbavali accused the woman he abused of encroaching on a stormwater drain — the same allegation that Polappa levelled against minister Anand Singh.
The slew of criticisms on BJP leaders in the last 10 days, however, began when former chief minister BS Yediyurappa defended Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru.
BS Yediyurappa meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi after his elevation to BJP Parliamentary Board. 26 August 2022. (Supplied)
The chief pontiff of the Murugharajendra Matha in Chitradurga is accused of sexually abusing two girls aged 15 and 16.
Yediyurappa — a Lingayat strongman — was quick to deem the allegations against the seer “fake” and give Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru a clean chit.
Yediyurappa’s defence of the Lingayat seer was backed by Karnataka Minister for Food and civil supplies Umesh Katti, another Lingayat.
The minister drew flak after he said, “It was wrong to accuse the seer.”
Katti went on to downplay the serious allegations of sexual abuse against the seer, deeming it a case of “internal differences” between him and the administrative officer of the matha — Basavarajan.
Yediyurappa’s stance was countered by the BJP’s own Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh, as if the party was pressing for damage control.
Singh, in a statement, demanded that politicians and political parties not interfere in the investigation and ensure justice for the minor girls.
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