A day after the Centre banned radical outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka chief minister, BS Yediyurappa, on Thursday, called said it the “illegitimate child” of opposition leader Siddaramaiah.
“Siddaramaiah had only lifted them (PFI) in the past… it is his illegitimate child. Today, the entire country is with us…he does not know what to talk and is speaking in a wayward manner,” Yediyurappa said.
“Siddaramaiah is the prime reason for all of this (problems caused by PFI). Instead of thinking honestly about it, it is surprising that he continues to lie. I request that at least now he should become aware,” Yediyurappa, who is also a member of the BJP’s parliamentary board, added.
Hitting back at Yediyurappa, Siddaramaiah asked as to why the BJP did not take action against the PFI during its term in 2019. “What did he (Yediyurappa) do when he was chief minister. See, RSS is their illegitimate child,” Siddaramaiah said.
On Wednesday Siddaramaiah had demanded a ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, on the same lines as the PFI.
Siddaramaiah who has been an ardent critic of the RSS, spared no opportunity to target the Sangh Parivar on issues like communalism and Hindutva.
“The RSS and others are spoiling peace in society and action should be taken against them also,” Siddaramaiah had said.
The Congress has blamed the BJP for PFI’s growth saying the outfit’s presence helps their “communal style of politics”. In return, the BJP has accused the Congress for the PFI’s growth “to benefit from vote bank politics”.
The PFI has a strong presence in the coastal districts of Karnataka among other regions and its political arm, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), had also won in the gram panchayat elections and other local bodies, especially in the coastal districts. Its student wing, Campus Front of India (CFI) was also at the forefront of the hijab row in Karnataka, supporting the students in their agitation against the restrictions of wearing headscarves with the school uniform.
“To state clearly, PFI, SDPI and others are all the ‘B’ team of the BJP. Because of them (PFI, SDPI), their (BJP) communalism works if not it won’t. If they (BJP) really had commitment, as soon as they came and if they did have evidence, they should have banned them right then but didn’t. Now that the elections are approaching, they are posturing as though they are showing strong governance,” Yatindra Siddaramaiah, the Congress legislator from Varuna, said.
