DK Shivakumar says Congress not built on basis of caste

Mangaluru: Even as the Congress in Dakshina Kannada district is geared up to build a Congress Bhavana in Puttur, a few Muslim leaders in the party expressed displeasure over not printing their names on the invitation cards. However, DCM DK Shivakumar said in his reaction that the party doesn't functions on the basis of caste and religion, but on ideologies.The invitation card printed by Congress Bhavana Trust has the names of DK Shivakumar, district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Rajya Sabha MP GC Chandrashekhar, Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai, MLCs Manjunath Bhandary and Ivan D'Souza, Mescom chairman Harish Kumar, and others. District Congress committee vice-president K Ashraf said that ignoring the Muslim community during such a massive event of the party hurt many leaders.
"Party workers of the community have discussed it. Party leaders at the state level are not aware of this disparity, and should consider the issue seriously. I spoke on behalf of the party. They should understand how this will damage the party's reputation," said Ashraf.Shivakumar said that the Congress is a party that takes all castes together. "We do not play politics on the basis of caste and religion. There should be ‘dharma' in politics. However, there should be no politics in ‘dharma'. This is the basic ideology of the party," he said, adding that KPCC plans to complete the bhoomi puja for 100 party offices by March.