Hindu Mahasabha mulls a saffron alliance sans BJP in poll-bound Karnataka

Mangaluru, Apr 20: The Karnataka state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha has dropped hints about forming an alliance of hardline Hindutva fringe groups without the Bharatiya Janata Party, the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Addressing media persons in the city on Friday, Mahasabha’s Karnataka state president N Subrahmanya Raju said that non-BJP Hindutva groups would be contesting in 150 constituencies across the state in May 12 assembly polls.

As per the plan Mahasabha will field 30 candidates, while Sampoorna Bharatiya Kranti Paksha (SBKP) and Sri Ram Sena’s Pramod Muthalik would field 15 and 35 candidates respectively. In a few days a coalition of Mahasabha, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Sri Ram Sena, Shiv Sena, and SBKP would come into existence in Karnataka, he said. 

He said that Mahasabha was registered as a political party in 1912. However, post independence it had lost recognition just because Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, belonged to Mahasabha.

He said that though Mahasabha had been supporting BJP candidates for the Hindutva cause, the latter had long abandoned its Hindutva ideology. “Now BJP once again announced B S Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate in spite of the fact that he was the first CM in the history of the sate to go to jail,” he said. 

He alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was desperately wooing the minority communities to come back to power. The entry of Mahasabha was inevitable at this juncture when the ruling Congress was pursuing anti-Hindu policies, he added.

The Opposition BJP in the state was not effective in opposing these policies, he said adding that majority of Hindus would give a fitting reply to the Congress in the coming elections.