What’s wrong with BJP trying to form govt, asks Mysuru MP Pratap Simha

MYSURU: Defending his party’s decision to form the government in Karnataka, Mysuru MP

Pratap Simha

on Thursday sought to turn the tables on those questioning the saffron party’s attempts to cobble a majority.

“The people of Karnataka have rejected both the Congress and JD(S), but they have come together in an ‘Unholy’ alliance to stake claim to power. What is wrong if the BJP, which is the single largest party in the state tries to form the government?” Simha asked.

Simha, who participated in a protest held by BJP activists in front of the Mysuru deputy commissioner’s office to condemn the attack on the saffron party’s MLA

Preetham Gowda

’s home by JD(S) workers in Hassan, blamed the members of the ruling coalition of demoralising his party by using an audio clip in which former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa is purportedly making overtures to a young JD(S) leader.

“The attack on Preeetham Gowda’s house in Hassan is a heinous act. The attack is the act of a party that is losing its ground in its stronghold, Hassan. This was an attempt to finish the only representative of the BJP from the district. But, we will not be silenced by such acts,” Simha said.

The protesting BJP workers, meanwhile, held CM HD Kumaraswamy responsible for the attack on Preetham’s home, and demanded the former’s resignation. “The CM has failed to maintain law and order in the state by allowing his party workers to run free like hooligans,” the protesters said.

The BJP’s Karnataka secretary M Rajendra, chief of the BJP’s Mysuru city unit Manjunath, the party’s rural president Shivanna and former MLC Thontadarya were among those who participated in the protest.