Owaisi calls Eshwarappa's remarks shameful, says 'Hindutva' & Constitution can't co-exist

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi termed former Karnataka Dy CM KS Eshwarappa's 'no Muslim candidate' remark as shameful & disgusting but not surprising, claiming that the 'Hindutva ideology' couldn't co-exist with the Constitution. Reacting sharply to the Karnataka Minister ruling out the possibility of the BJP fielding a Muslim candidate for the by-poll in Belagavi, Owaisi claimed that 'Hindutva' did not believe in equality and that it couldn't exist alongside values such as liberty, fraternity, equality & justice enshrined in the Constitution. 

Eshwarappa, who has a history of issuing such statements in the past, told reporters on Sunday that the Karnataka BJP unit would meet, discuss and then decide on the candidate to be fielded for the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat that fell vacant after the sudden demise of MoS Railways Suresh Angadi. 

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Owaisi slams Eshwarappa for 'no Muslim candidate' remark

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Eshwarappa stokes controversy

Former Karnataka deputy CM KS Eshwarappa categorically stated that the ticket for the Belagavi LS by-poll would be given to anyone but from the Muslim community. The ex-Dy CM explained that Belagavi was a Hindutva centre and that the party could give the poll ticket to any Kuruba, Vokkaliga, Brahmin, Lingayat or the followers of any saints and hence no Muslim candidate would be fielded. He had made a similar statement in 2019 after which he faced severe backlash, forcing him to offer a clarification on the same. 

"We will give it to Kurubas, Vokkaliga, Lingayat but we will not give a ticket to a Muslim. Belgavi is a Hindutva centre. There is no question of fielding Muslim candidates. We will give a ticket to Hindutva follower. I don't know if we will give it to a Shankracharya follower, or a Chennama follower or a Rayanna follower but we will sit together as a party and decide on who should be fielded", KS Eshwarappa said, speaking to reporters on Sunday.  

READ | Ex-Dy CM Eshwarappa Says BJP Won't Field Muslim pick For 'Hindutva Centre' Belagavi Bypoll

BJP is riding high on momentum after winning both RR Nagar and Sira constituencies in the recently concluded Assembly bypolls, thereby paving way for BS Yediyurappa to establish a stable government. The saffron party's principal opposition, the Congress and the JD(S), were left red-faced after their strongholds were breached by the BJP in the by-elections - forcing both DK Shivakumar (KPCC chief) and HD Kumaraswamy to rethink their next political course. However, another significant electoral battle awaits BJP in the north Karnataka as Basavakalyan and Maski are also set to witness by-elections soon. 

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