Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jan 14: "I have never branded BJP and Rasthriya Swayamsevak Sangh as terrorist outfits. Therefore there is no question of tendering an apology," clarified chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah.

He was speaking to media persons who met him at New Delhi after holding discussions with All India Congress Committee president, Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders from the state about election preparations on Saturday January 13.

In response to queries made by media persons, Siddaramaiah clarified that he had never termed BJP and Hindu outfits as terrorists. "I had only commented that people who pursue hardcore Hindutva principles are not humans. Why should I apologize for something which I did not utter? This is not even a fit subject for discussion," he said.

Siddaramaiah expressed the notion that BJP does not have any other issue to raise during the election other than Hindutva. He felt that BJP leaders like chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, and national president, Amit Shah, keep on harping about Hindutva ideology in their addresses. He sarcastically commented that in near future, Prime Minster, Narendra Modi, too may start mouthing these rhetorics.

"I just said that I happen to be a Hindu but that they advocate inhuman Hindutva. Hindutva does not depend upon whether a person visits temples or not. It relates to humanness. Our religion has always stood for religious tolerance," Siddaramaiah explained.

The chief minister analyzed that the coming election is not one-to-one fight between himself and Yeddyurappa, nor between him and Narendra Modi. He stated that this fight is between communalism and secularist principles.