JD(S), Cong exchange barbs on social media

NT Correspondent

Mandya: The social media war between Congress and JD(S) continued on Friday with the later branding the former a corrupt party that merely used secularism for rhetoric but didn’t practise it in reality.

The JD(S) official handle on the micro-blogging site X (previously Twitter) was responding to the Karnataka Congress handle’s allegation that the regional party’s state president HD Kumaraswamy had compromised their secular principles by allying with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections.

“Congress’ ploy is behind statements like the culture of Vokkaligas is wretched,” the JD(S) handle posted.

The reference was to Kannada writer KS Bhagwan’s comment about the Vokkaliga community at the Mahisha Utsav celebrations recently held by Dalits.

Dasara has many intepretations and a popular one dictates that it is marked to celebrate the victory of the Hindu deity Durga over a rakshasa (demon) called Mahisha. The proponents of Mahisha Dasara, primarily Dalit, claim that Mahisha was a fellow “untouchable” and was demonized by Brahminical influence.

“The culture of Vokkaligas is that of wretched beasts. This is what Kuvempu said, not me. If I don’t clarify, they might try to beat me. They might try to kill me,” Bhagwan had said.