Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah may be a believer of Hindutva, but he is not a Hindu, Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah said on Friday. Launching a fierce attack on Shah, who is campaigning for the party in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said, “Amit Shah said I (Siddaramaiah) am not a Hindu, but Amit Shah himself is not a Hindu, he is a Jain.” The Karnataka CM further asked Shah to come out and say that he is a Jain. “He might believe in Hindutva but let him come out and say he is a Hindu and not a Jain,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
However, this was not the first time Siddaramaiah had posed such a question to Amit Shah. Earlier, Shah had said that he is a “Hindu Vaishnav”, refuting Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s claim that the BJP chief is a Jain. Speaking to reporters after a rally to mark the BJP’s 38th foundation day in Mumbai, Shah had said, “I am not a Jain, but a Hindu Vaishnav.”
On being asked if his party is going to forge an alliance with any party, Siddaramaiah said, “We are not going to enter into an alliance with any party. We are a secular party.”
Rebutted by the reporter that Janata Dal(S) is also secular, CM Siddaramaiah shot back: “Who told you JDS is a secular party?”
On being asked if he will also contest from Badami constituency, Siddaramaih said he will go by party’s decision. The chief minister has been repeatedly questioned about him contesting from the segment in north Karnataka.
On Thursday, Siddaramaiah said the Congress high command would decide on his contesting from Badami. The chief minister, who looked visibly upset on media’s repeated questions on the same issue, who has been fielded from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, said, he was the chief minister and not the high command.
