With Inputs from Mounesh Vishwakarma
Pic: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal

Bantwal, Jan 23: BJP MLA Sunil Kumar has triggered a controversy in the communally sensitive coastal Karnataka after asking people to choose between Ram and Allah in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.

Addressing a rally in Kalladka here, Sunil Kumar, who represents Karkala constituency, said that the MLA of Bantwal and DK district in-charge minister (Ramanath Rai) has 'credited his successive victories to Allah' and the support he received from the secular Muslim community.

"This election is a question of Hindu self-esteem. I read in the paper and I was surprised, a legislator who got elected from this constituency for six times has said that he has won because of the grace of Allah. I request friends here, the election here is not between Rajesh Naik (BJP) and Ramanath Rai; it is an election between Allah and Ram. Who Bantwal wants it has to be decided. Whether we will repeatedly make Allah win or will we make a person who loves Ram win, people of Bantwal have to decide,” he said.

He also associated the issue to be a question of pride for every Hindu not only in Bantwal but the entire district.

Case filed

A case has been registered against Sunil Kumar in Bantwal town police station for his speech, based on a complaint filed by local Congress president Prashanth Kulal on Tuesday, January 23.

The complaint states that the MLA in a public meeting in Kalladka spoke in a way that would cause enmity between religions and disrupt communal harmony.

The case has been registered under Sections 153(A) and 505(2) of the IPC.

Meanwhile, Ramanath Rai has lashed out at Sunil Kumar and said that such statements do not suit an election campaign. "To me, Ram and Rahim are the same, why bring religion into politics?" he questioned.

Rai said he plans to file a complaint with the Election Commission against BJP for trying to bring religion into their campaign to gain advantage.

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