Siddaramaiah has been playing vote-bank politics for two decades: Bommai

Talking to reporters, he said they must question Siddaramaiah for his latest definition statement that Hindu is different and Hindutva is different

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has been playing vote-bank politics and appeasement politics for the last 20 years.

Talking to reporters after participating in Lakkundi Utsav on Friday, he said they must question Siddaramaiah for his latest definition statement that Hindu is different and Hindutva is different.

"The Congress leader always has a dual policy and tries to create such dual policies in society. But the voters are mature and will not support such a dual policy. They may not hesitate to differentiate Hindu and Hindutva and say both Islam and the Muslims are same. There are several examples before them of creating division in society, breaking castes, and forming big committees to create confusion among the sub-sects. The people sent them home in 2018 and will do the same thing this time also," said Bommai.

On Siddaramaiah terming the Governor's address of the joint session of the State Legislature as a bundle of lies, the Chief Minister said the previous government, before going to the polls, had announced keeping Rs 3,000 crore to build 15 lakh houses.

"They were supposed to earmark Rs 15,000 crore. It was the Congress leaders who told lies and cheated people. Siddaramaiah is a great leader who made tall claims of building 15 lakh houses but not earmarked not even one-third of the amount in the budget. That responsibility was passed on to the BJP which had sanctioned five lakh new houses. Knowing all these things, Siddaramaiah was making allegations just for the sake of politics," he added.

Regarding building Navale Dam as an alternative to the Tungabhadra River, Bommai said the DPR is ready and a team of officials from Andhra Pradesh had come and held one round of meetings in Bengaluru.

"Clarifications are sought regarding some issues. After one stage of preparations, it will be discussed with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and arrive at a consensus decision," added the Chief Minister.