BJP to protest against Congress 'anti-constitutional attitude' in Bengaluru on August 5: Vijayendra

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra on Saturday announced that the party will protest against the Congress party's "anti-constitutional attitude" in Bengaluru on August 5, on the same day when Rahul Gandhi will be leading a protest against the alleged incidents of "votes theft".

He said his party members will be protesting near the Gandhi Statue in Vidhana Soudha premises here.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will participate in a protest at the Freedom Park here on August 5 against the alleged incidents of "votes theft". The BJP had also sought permission from the Bengaluru police to organise their protest at the same venue. However, they were denied permission, citing law and order and lack of space owing to Congress's already planned protest there.

Amid the raging row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, has alleged that elections are being "stolen" in the country and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of the "votes theft" by studying a parliamentary constituency in Karnataka.

Terming the attitude of the Congress party "totally unconstitutional", Vijayendra said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken this matter very seriously.

"They have lost faith in democracy. They have lost faith in constitutional bodies. They are alleging Election Commission. Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar have also joined their voices. So my direct question is if at all... if there are any allegations, how did the Congress party come to power here in Karnataka? How did they win all three by-elections?" he asked while talking to reporters.

Vijayendra alleged that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are not able to digest Narendra Modi's leadership at the Centre and that his dream of becoming Prime Minister remains unfulfilled. He alleged that Gandhi was misguiding the people of this country and also the state with his repeated allegations against the Election Commission. It's an insult to the voters and people of this country.

The BJP leader said if the Election Commission can be "manipulated" as being claimed, then how did Congress win elections in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka? "Since we have taken this matter seriously, BJP, all our MPs, MLAs, MLCs, former MPs, MLAs will be protesting against the Congress party's anti-constitutional attitude. We will be protesting near the Gandhi Statue in Vidhana Soudha," he added.

Responding to Gandhi's claim that his party has an "atom bomb" of evidence against the Election Commission on poll irregularities, Vijayendra said, "If they have an atom bomb, they can't keep it in their pockets. If the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi have any proof, they should give it to the Election Commission of this country, or they can challenge it in the Supreme Court".

"Rather than doing that, creating drama here in Bengaluru, Karnataka, is not going to help them. They should challenge it before the Supreme Court," he added.

Further he said that if Gandhi was coming to Bengaluru on August 5, he should apologise to the people of Karnataka for the June 4 stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium which resulted in loss of 11 innocent lives, alleging that the incident happened due to the "irresponsibility" of chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar.