Bengaluru, April 28 (IANS) Responding to the conviction of Mangaluru cooker blast accused Mohammed Shariq, who was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, R. Ashoka, on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Congress leadership, accusing it of indulging in vote bank politics even on matters of national security.

Ashoka alleged that it was unfortunate that leaders driven by political interests were aspiring to become chief minister while, according to him, defending anti-national elements for electoral gains.

Targeting Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar, Ashoka charged, “It is a tragedy for Karnataka that self-serving people, who justify traitors as ‘brothers’ for the sake of a few votes, are aspiring to become the Chief Minister.”

Referring to earlier remarks made during the Mangaluru cooker blast incident, Ashoka said that Shivakumar and other Congress leaders had initially dismissed the episode as diversion politics. He stated that subsequent developments in the case had now established the facts.

Citing the verdict by a special NIA court, Ashoka said the accused, Mohammed Shariq, had been found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, asserting that this had exposed the true face of the Congress and its approach to sensitive national security issues.

The BJP leader further accused the party of engaging in appeasement politics.

He added that the Congress should refrain from, as he put it, justifying extremists for political convenience and urged the party to change its stance on such matters.

In December 2022, Shivakumar had stirred significant controversy by questioning the official labeling of the Mangaluru cooker blast as a “terror act”.

Shivakumar alleged that the then ruling BJP government was using the cooker blast, which occurred in an autorickshaw, to divert attention from a voter data theft scandal in Bengaluru. He questioned how the police could declare the suspect a terrorist without a full investigation.

–IANS

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