Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has stirred a hornet's nest by commenting on Lingayat Chief Ministers. The BJP has picked up the issue and called it an insult to the entire community. When a scribe asked Siddaramaiah about BJP's stance that a Liingayat should become the next Chief Minister, the senior Congress leader said, "There is already a Lingayat CM. He is at the root of all corruption in the state. Reacting to Siddaramaiah's statement about him, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Bengaluru on Sunday, "Now Siddaramaiah has spoken about the Lingayat community just as Rahul Gandhi spoke about Modi community. People will answer this in the next few days."
"Siddaramaiah is a senior leader. I did not expect such a statement from him. Siddaramaiah has made a statement that hurt the Lingayat community. This is the Congress culture, it is not worthy of Siddaramaiah's dignity. The CM and Minister of any society will work according to their ability. If there is a lapse, it is at a personal level. The statement is not worthy of Siddaramaiah's dignity," the CM criticised.
Siddaramaiah clarifies: "I said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is a corrupt Chief Minister. But I did not say that all Lingayats are corrupt," former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clarified his statement about Lingayats on Saturday on Twitter.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Siddaramaiah hit out at BJP's Lingayat CM stance. “The state already has a Lingayat Chief Minister. He ruined the state with his corruption," he alleged. This statement of Siddaramaiah has caused outrage in the Lingayat community. The state BJP expressed its displeasure over his statement in a tweet. After that Siddaramaiah, who shared a video clarifying this controversy in a tweet, said, "BJP has twisted the video of my statement to their liking."
''BJP has cut the video of my statement and edited it as they want. They are trying to portray that all Lingayats are corrupt. I believe that the Lingayat community will not listen to such conspiracies of the BJP to gain electoral benefits. I did not say that all Lingayats are corrupt. All this is a lie created by the BJP,'' Siddaramaiah clarified.
''The Lingayat community has given many honest Chief Ministers in Karnataka like Virendra Patil, Nijalingappa, JH Patel, BD Jatti, and SR Kanthi. I have special love and admiration for all these leaders," said Siddaramaiah. ''We have given more tickets to Veerashaiva Lingayats because we have respect for them. Last time 47 Lingayat candidates were given party tickets. This time we have issued tickets in more than that that is around 52 53 constituencies,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
