"Saw Mrs Vadra offering Namaz..."Smriti Irani calls out DK Shivakumar's 'temple promise'
May 05, 2023
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 5 : A day after Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar promised that the grand old party will construct Lord Hanuman temples in the State if voted to power, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday hit out at the former saying that he should first consider the "promise" to his own party as she has seen Mrs Vadra offering Namaz during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Union Minister Irani further said that the Congress leader should not make such promises in the State as his party is not winning the May 10 Assembly elections.
"I'd like to humbly tell DK Shivakumar that he is not going to become the CM, so it is better if he does not make the false promise of a temple," the Union Minister told ANI.
Pointing to Shivakumar's promise of constructing Lord Hanuman temples, She said, "Before saying this, did he [Shivakumar] check with Mrs Vadra? [Priyanka Gandhi Vadra] I say this because, during the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Amethi, I saw Mrs Vadra offering namaz on the street."
"We all know that those who believe in Islam can't do idol worshipping or build temples. So, if his leader is against idol worshipping & temple, can DK Shivakunar make such a promise?" Irani added.
DK Shivakumar on Thursday during his visit to Mysuru promised to either build more Lord Hanuman temples or renovate the existing ones all over the state.
The poll promise could be seen as Congress' efforts to control the damage, it has caused in the poll-bound State by bringing a poll manifesto, wherein the party bracketed the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) and Bajrang Dal together and stated it would ban the organisations once it is voted to power.
Notably, this has triggered outrage against the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Tuesday said that this "decisive" decision by the party was an attempt to lock up those who worship Lord Hanuman.
Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
