“Will Face Legally”: Karnataka BJP MLA Over His “Finish Off Siddaramaiah” Remark

Bengaluru:

On the issue of a case filed against him for his alleged “finish off Siddaramaiah” remark, former Karnataka Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA CN Ashwath Narayan on Thursday said that he will face it politically as well as legally.

BJP MLA CN Ashwath Narayan said that he had made it clear that his statement had no intention to hurt Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or his sentiments and added that then the opposition had accepted his clarification.

“I had made it very clear that my statement had no intention of hurting CM Siddaramaiah, his sentiments or feelings and I expressed my regret too. The opposition party accepted my statement. Now they are opening 3 months old closed chapter. I will face it politically as well as legally”, he said.

MLA Narayan’s reaction came a day after the Karnataka Congress registered an FIR against him for his alleged statement to “finish off” Siddaramaiah like “Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda finished off Tipu Sultan”.

A delegation of Congress leaders led by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M Lakshmana and Mysuru District Congress Committee President B J Vijaykumar on Wedneday submitted a fresh complaint at Devaraja police station in Mysuru.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 506 and 153 of the IPC.

Earlier in February this year a complaint was filed by KPCC spokesperson at the Malleshwaram police station against Ashwath Narayan but no action was taken.

While addressing a public event this February, the Karnataka minister had exhorted people to “finish off” Siddaramaiah the way the two Vokkaliga chieftains — Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda — had killed 17th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan. Congress has maintained that the duo are fictional characters.

Subsequently, Ashwath Narayan in a series of tweets said that his remarks were casual allusions and not malicious.

“Let me make my stand clear. The words used to compare Tipu Sultan and Siddaramaiah in Mandya are casual allusions and not malicious words. But my words are being misconstrued. It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone,” he tweeted.

“Debate is an integral part of politics & essential for a healthy democracy. It is in this spirit that my words should be interpreted. It may be Siddaramaiah’s culture to be calling the Prime Minister a “mass murderer” and assailing the Chief Minister,” read his tweet.

Ashwath Narayan further added that he had only mentioned that Congress should be defeated in the elections.

“The people of the State are well aware of Siddaramaiah’s language proficiency. I was merely alluding to the fact that Congress should be defeated in this election. And, after all, our people of Mandya do not possess the brutal mentality of Tipu,” he had tweeted.

To this Siddaramaiah had then stated that love and friendship cannot be expected from leaders of a party, which “worships the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)