BJP leaders protesting against Siddaramaiah detained

The party leaders staged a dharna at the Mysuru Bank circle in the heart of Bengaluru and blocked the road.

The BJP leaders, who staged a protest in Bengaluru against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his remarks on RSS and Bajrang Dal, were on Saturday detained by the police. The protesters, which included Lok Sabha MP Shobha Karandlaje, condemned Siddaramaiah's remarks and asked him to apologise.

The party leaders staged a dharna at the Mysuru Bank circle in the heart of Bengaluru and blocked the road. Karandlaje accused Siddaramaiah of indulging in "vote bank politics."

"We are telling Siddaramaiah government if we are terrorists (or not). I am BJP, I am RSS, you arrest me and put me in jail. He should apologise or otherwise, you should arrest us. He is doing vote bank politics," Karandlaje told media during protest," Karandlaje told media during the protest.

Siddaramaiah had recently alleged that BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal have terrorists within their organisations. "They are themselves like terrorists in a way. BJP, RSS and Bajarang Dal also have terrorists within," he had said, triggering a war of words between the ruling Congress and the saffron party ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Siddaramaiah, who came under intense attack from the BJP for his controversial remarks, however, later called them "Hindutva extremists".

OneIndia News with PTI inputs