Protest at Amit Shah meet over Anant Kumar Hegde presence

BJP president Amit Shah’s Karnataka campaign trail seems to have hit by gaffes and missteps, with another one playing out on Friday, when while reaching out to the Dalit community, he faced their ire over the remarks of Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Anant Kumar Hegde. Calling the remarks anti-Dalit, members from the community started shouting slogans demanding his ouster. 

In December last year, Hegde had said during a tirade against “seculars”, that the BJP can change the Constitution if the need arises. “I respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed according to the times on many occasions in the past and it will change in the future. We are here to change the Constitution,” he had said. His quote led to a furore and he was forced to apologise in the Lok Sabha. 

On Friday, at a meeting arranged at the Rajendra Kalamandira, Shah was to speak to the community where he was asked quite a few questions. A group of people, present at the gathering, however, started protesting against Hegde’s quotes. In reply, Shah said the party does not endorse those views expressed by Hegde. 

The protests, however, continued unabated. Former MP M Shivanna and former minister V Srinivas Prasad, too, were present among the protesters. Mysuru MP Pratap Simha tried to pacify the protesters, but was unsuccessful and soon enough, the situation went out of hand. The police had to step in and protesters, including Shivanna, were sent out of the venue by the police.