Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Aug 20: The state government, considering the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)'s alleged involvement in the Bengaluru clash that took place last week, has listed in its agenda for Thursday's cabinet meeting the banning of the party along with its parent organization Popular Front of India (PFI).

State home minister, Basavaraj Bommai stated that the chief minister B S Yediyurappa would discuss the matter with the centre. "The Chief Minister has said that it will discuss with the Centre and will come back on SDPI. The Cabinet has appreciated the work of the home department and the police for its timely action into the incident," Bommai said while speaking to reporters in Bengaluru.

Tourism minister, C T Ravi said that the government would gather all evidence of both the organizations involved in violence in not only the recent Bengaluru violence but in various occasions to support the banning of the organizations. "We will not consider only this one incident where SDPI and PFI were involved. We will look into various incidents that have occurred across the state, gather necessary evidence against them and then make a decision,” Ravi said.

To further strengthen the claims, Ravi said that the police would be roped in to gather evidence. “This is because this evidence should be admissible in the court. We have to ensure that the proof gathered is strong enough so it can be accepted by the court. We will not allow anti-social elements to run free,” Ravi added.

The tourism minister condemned the state opposition leader Siddaramaiah's statement on the recent violence that erupted in Bengaluru on August 11 and said that the Congress is not in favour of taking stringent action against the accused. “I have observed Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundurao’s statements. They condemn the act of violence but they don’t want strict action to be taken. Despite the fact that the house of an MLA from their own party was set ablaze, they are still resorting to vote bank politics. Our party does not resort to such politics. We are all about killing two birds with a stone. We will take stringent action against perpetrators,” he added.

Sources said that senior ministers like KS Eshwarappa, R Ashoka, and even home minister Basavaraj Bommai were strongly in favour of the ban.

SDPI, PFI

SDFI was formed on June 21, 2009 at New Delhi. It is the political wing of Popular Front of India (PFI). The organization was registered on April 13, 2010 with the Election Commission of India. Over the years, the organization's electoral presence has been minimal and limited to Karnataka and Kerala.

The formation of PFI, the parent organization of SDPI took place with the merging of three organizations in Tamil Nadu on November 22, 2006. The organizations being Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD), National Development Front (NDF) in Kerala and Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP).

Few of the founders of PFI like E Abubacker and P Koya are also credited to be the founding members of the outlawed Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in 1977 in Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh.

The current leadership of PFI and most of the former office-bearers were formerly associated with SIMI before the organization was banned even though the members claim to not have connection as being pointed out by critics.

Several controversies across the state involve both the organizations. Apart from many of its members named in the recent Bengaluru violence, PFL members were also accused in the murder of Rudresh in Shivajinagar in Bengaluru, an RSS worker in 2018.

Since 2011, the ruling party leaders in the state have been seeking a ban on these organisations.