BJP MLA from Belthangady constituency in Dakshina Kannada district, Harish Poonja has stirred a controversy by stating that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah got 24 Hindu activists killed. The Congress workers are preparing to lodge a police complaint against him. MLA Harish Poonja said this while venting out his ire at Hindu activists who campaigned for Congress. He was speaking at a local function last week. The audio and video clips of the statement have gone viral on social media. Satyajith Surathkal, a Hindu activist, had campaigned for the Congress party.


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"You sought a vote for Siddaramaiah who got 24 Hindu activists killed. You sought a vote for Congress which is proposing a ban on Bajrang Dal," he said. The statement had stirred a controversy. BJP is alleging that during the tenure of Siddaramaiah between 2013 and 2018, coastal Karnataka region, especially Dakshina Kannada district, witnessed a series of murders of Hindu activists. The saffron party further alleged that the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah protected the accused persons by deciding to withdraw cases against the workers of PFI and SDPI.


The BJP had made it a poll issue in 2018 and swept elections in the coastal region. Siddaramaiah then had denied giving protection to the accused persons and maintained that the murders had happened due to rivalry and personal enmity. CBI investigation showed that Paresh Mesta, a Hindu youth who was alleged to have been killed in communal violence, died accidentally. The investigation report proved to be a major setback for the BJP during elections.