Bengaluru, 8 Sep 

Following the communal clashes in Mandya’s Maddur, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of spoiling peace while the Opposition BJP and JD(S) said the ruling Congress had betrayed Hindus.

Pro-Hindu organisations took to the streets, while the government imposed prohibitory orders on the town.  

The BJP charged that the Congress was allowing “anti-Hindu” seeds to be sown in society.

Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai accused the Congress government of creating "disharmony in society".

"The situation has gone so bad that there are some antisocial elements who think that they can get away with any kind of violence because they have got political backing.... The Hindu community is very peaceful," Bommai said.

"It is the administration and politics of the Congress party that have created disharmony in society and the result is that this kind of violence happens and when this happens, the police behave one-sidedly."

Opposition Leader R Ashoka demanded an apology from Siddaramaiah, claiming that Hindus were being targeted in Dharmasthala, over Goddess Chamundeshwari and now in Maddur.

“Hindus have become second-class citizens in their own country,” Ashoka said. “It's a peculiar situation. We don't know whether there is any government or if it has died. Should they (Congress) sell the nation for the vote bank politics? If you question them, they quickly pick up the Constitution book. Is this how you are protecting the Constitution?”

However, Mandya district in-charge minister N Cheluvarayaswamy told reporters in City that the stone pelting on the procession was pre-planned and is suspected to be carried out by people from outside the district.

He accused BJP and JD(S) of fanning the communal flames.

Similarly, Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of disturbing the peace. “If there is anyone who disturbs peace, it’s them (BJP) only. BJP is an expert in inciting and spoiling peace," Siddaramaiah said, noting that Ganesha immersions were peaceful elsewhere in the state.

He vowed strict action, while noting that the procession’s organisers had ignored police warnings.

“Be it Muslims, Hindus, BJP, Congress, or JD(S) – the law will take its course. The police had warned the people in the procession, telling them not to stay there for too long. At that time, some stone-pelting took place,” he said.