Why Siddaramaiah is professing his Hindu credentials

BENGALURU: Religion-politics by the Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka has forced its Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah to underline the "Rama" in his name to uphold his Hindu credentials.

"My name is Sidda Rama. I am a Hindu. BJP workers are not the only Hindus out there," he said.

Siddaramaiah is perceived as an icon of the AHINDA, a Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits from 2006, something the BJP has been using to portray him as anti-forward castes.

This is the first time in recent memory that Siddaramaiah has made such a statement. He is more known for his socialist background and agnostic outlook. The outburst is so uncharacteristic that former CM and legislative assembly opposition leader from the BJP, Jagadish Shettar, said: "With polls around, Siddaramaiah has realised he is a Hindu."

A series of circumstances have forced this response from the CM. Siddaramaiah's recent statement that action would be taken against Hindus and "any other" who forment trouble has angered even his own moderate Hindu supporters. "Why can't the CM mention action against Muslims, if required? Why only mention Hindus?" asked a regular Congress voter Chandrika GS.

This backlash has led Siddaramaiah to assert his Hindu credentials. "I am a Hindu, but unlike BJP, we in the Congress don't use scissors to cut the society, but use a needle to sew up," the CM said.

In the past two weeks, the BJP has stepped up the Hindu-Muslim rhetoric in the state, though officially party state president BS Yeddyurappa told ET, "There’s no need for communal polarisation to bring us to power in the state." Several BJP leaders have gone to the communally-sensitive Mangaluru region which has seen unrest following the murders of an SDPI member and an RSS activist in recent times.

Siddaramaiah and his ministers are being accused of pandering to minority sentiments and of being "anti-Hindu". BJP MP from the region Shobha Karandlaje has added further colour to the issue by referring to Congress' spokesperson and state working president Dinesh Gundu Rao's nearly 20-year marriage to a Muslim, Tabassum,

In a completely unrelated context, Siddaramaiah had mocked Yeddyurappa about his visits to Dalit houses and asked if he would get his children married to them. Karandlaje responded with this jibe?