100-year legacy can't be shaken: BJP as Karnataka denies RSS march over clash fears

The Karnataka government has cancelled a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) march in Chittapur, scheduled to be held on Sunday, citing law and order concerns.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised the Congress government in Karnataka after the RSS march was denied by authorities. In an X post in Kannada, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said the incident has reminded him of the Kim Jong Un regime in North Korea and the Congress is trying to recreate an Emergency-like situation in Chittapur.

The Karnataka government has cancelled a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) march in Chittapur, scheduled to be held on Sunday, citing law and order concerns. In the order, Chittapur officials also said the Bhim Army and the Indian Dalit Panthers had also sought permissions to hold a march along the same route on Sunday.

The Chittapur Tahsildar, Nagayya Hiremath, issued an official order refusing permission to both organisations, stating, “To prevent disruption of peace and law and order in Chittapur and to avoid any untoward incidents, permission for the RSS route march scheduled for October 19 is hereby denied, and the request application is rejected.”

In a setback to the Congress-led government in Karnataka, the High Court had allowed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to hold its route march in Chittapur on November 2. The court was hearing a petition filed by Ashok Patil, convenor of RSS Kalaburagi, who challenged the authorities' inaction on granting permission to hold the march in Chittapur on Sunday.

In a post on X translated from Kannada, Yediyurappa said, "It seems that Minister Priyank Kharge holds deep admiration for the dark history of the Congress Party, which once imposed Emergency on the country. This is perhaps why he is attempting to recreate an Emergency-like administration in Kalaburagi district, using Chittapur as a testing ground."

The BJP Karnataka unit hit back at the Congress through a post on X, saying, “100 years of RSS can’t be shaken by a handful of noise — the wheel of service keeps rolling.” Reacting strongly, BJP MP Jagadish Shettar also accused the Congress government of political vendetta. He said, “Siddaramaiah is unnecessarily spreading confusion among the people... RSS got banned in 1966, 1970 and 1980, but was removed by the Union government and this power of banning certain organisations lies with central government only... Thousands of people participate in the foot march conducted by RSS and if Siddaramaiah has guts, he should dare do this.”