BJP politicising blast, says Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

NT Correspondent

Mysuru / Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday slammed the principal Opposition BJP for allegedly politicizing the Rameshwaram Café explosion in Bengaluru’s Brookfield locality a day prior, which took place a day prior.

The blast was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) triggered by a timer.

It injured nine persons, who are not at risk of losing their lives. Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Home Minister G Parameshwara have all visited the injured.

The BJP has accused the State government of “appeasement” of a minority community.

“They are making political statements. There were bomb blasts in their tenure as well. What did they do about the Mangaluru cooker blast (of 2022)? Was that also a result of appeasement?” Siddaramaiah asked.

“An investigation is underway. I condemn the incident,” he added.

However, he refused to confirm if the incident was a terrorist attack. The CM also denied the allegation by the likes of Leader of the Opposition (LOP) R Ashoka that the State government was withholding a Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL) report.

The report, which Siddaramaiah says is pending, contains clarification on the allegation that Congress workers had raised “Pakistan Zindabad” (Long Live Pakistan) at the Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday when Naseer Hussain got reelected to the Rajya Sabha.

“There is no question of protecting anyone,” the CM said.