A day after the cremation of murdered Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai declared that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ‘model of governance’ too would be tried in Karnataka, if need be, to crush forces disturbing communal harmony.
The Chief Minister was replying to a query at a media conference on the demand from the ruling BJP cadre to act sternly against Praveen’s murderers, including replicating measures initiated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
‘Declared a big war against organised crime’
“Yogi is the right choice to handle the situation in U.P. In Karnataka, we are exercising all the available options to manage the situation. If need be, Yogi model too would be exercised in Karnataka,” he remarked.
“We have declared a big war against organised crime trying to disturb communal peace. People will see its impact in the coming days.”
He asserted that there is no question of compromising on the law and order situation in Karnataka, and appealed to people to maintain peace.
“We have taken Praveen’s murder very seriously. Already, five teams of police have been sent to Kerala as part of the investigation. We are confident of nabbing the culprits quickly, like we did with respect to the murder of another Hindutva activist Harsha,” he said.
‘Difficult to ban PFI, SDPI’
On the demand for a ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the Chief Minister said such a call had to be taken by the Centre and not states. Some States were faced with stays by courts after they tried to ban these organisations, he explained.
Pointing out that Karnataka had submitted reports to the Centre as evidence to emphasise the need to ban these organisations, he said the Centre is expected to take an appropriate decision in this regard.
“The powers that disturb communal harmony are seen throughout the country including Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and UP. In the last 10 years, these forces have raised their ugly head in Karnataka,” he said.
Admitting that communal tension would be a diversion from development activities, the Chief Minister claimed that his government has successfully handled these challenges by ensuring that the pace of development is not affected.
