BJP behind 'conspiracy', 'smear campaign' against Dharmasthala: Shivakumar

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday alleged that the BJP and its associates are behind the ''conspiracy'' and ''smear campaign'' against Dharmasthala, and claimed that an internal rift within the saffron party is the cause for it.

Also targeting the BJP's ''Dharmasthala Chalo'' movement and a massive rally planned in Dharmasthala on September 1, he urged Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple not to allow the holy place to be misused for politics.

''The BJP is doing politics in religion. They were quiet with their mouths shut all these days. Their party leaders had welcomed the SIT probe. The family (of the Dharmadhikari) have also welcomed the SIT probe. We are making efforts to bring the truth out. Now they (BJP) are trying to make Dharmasthala impure,'' Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, ''I appeal to Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari not to allow the religious place to become the victim of political conspiracy. Please don't allow Dharmasthala to be misused for politics. This is my request to Veerendra Heggade, who is respected by society.'' Alleging that an internal fight between two groups in the BJP, was the reason for the ''conspiracy'', the Deputy CM, without taking any names, said, ''I'm on record. It is the internal fight within the BJP....'' ''It is the BJP and its associates who conspired and tried to smear a black mark on Dharmasthala. Now they are trying to cover it up fearing that we may disclose the names. We don't want to do politics,'' he said.

A controversy erupted after a complainant, later identified as C N Chinnaiah and arrested on charges of perjury, claimed burying a number of bodies, including those of women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over a period of past two decades, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple.

The BJP has been protesting against targeting the temple and has hit out at the government for its inaction on the ''smear campaign'' against Dharmasthala.

Hitting out at BJP's planned rally on September 1 in Dharmasthala, Shivakumar asked them to do it in Bengaluru.

''You are trying to do politics using devotees. You are calling devotees... as leaders we should ensure that there is no lacuna with regards to the belief that people have towards Dharmasthala. The meeting called by BJP is political, not to save Dharma. They are trying to create unrest in the name of Dharma,'' he added.

The SIT, formed by the state government, which is probing charges, has conducted exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites.

Veerendra Heggade too had welcomed the constitution of the SIT.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)