Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shivakumar on Monday hit back at state minister K.S. Eshwarappa for accusing him of “provoking Muslim goons” to kill a Bajrang Dal activist, saying a sedition case should be filed against the BJP leader.
Shivakumar also demanded that the BJP leadership sack Eshwarappa from cabinet.
"Eshwarappa is a mad man. He speaks nonsense. A sedition case should be invoked against him and the BJP should sack him,” the Congress leader said.
Shivakumar also lambasted Eshwarappa’s remarks that the national flag would be replaced by the saffron flag, and wondered why the BJP leadership is silent.
"No one in this country can pardon him. He had said that the national flag should be replaced with a saffron flag at the Red Fort. I don't know why BJP is mum,” he said.
Harsha, a 23-year old Bajrang Dal activist, was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants at the Ravi Varma lane in Bharathi Colony in Shivamogga on Sunday night.
The town, around 250 km from the state capital Bengaluru, had recently seen disruption in some colleges over the hijab row. The reason behind the killing is not immediately known.
Eshwarappa, who is an MLA from Shivamogga, blamed 'Musalmaan Goondas' from his home district for the incident. The minister also sought to point a finger at Shivakumar, saying his statement emboldened the anti-social elements in the minority community.
"Due to D.K. Shivakumar's provocative statement that the tricolour was removed (recently) and the saffron flag was hoisted in the school ground in Shivamogga and 50 lakh saffron scarves were distributed, Musalmaan Goondas were emboldened," Eshwarappa said.
