‘Ayodhya of South India’ in Karnataka Row: Kumaraswamy Hits Out at Bommai Over Budget Allocation For Ram Temple

After Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday announced a majestic Ram temple will be constructed at the Ramadevara Betta (hill) in Ramanagara near Bengaluru, a fresh row has erupted ahead of assembly elections in the state.

JD(S) leader and former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy called it a political stunt and said that he is sure that the BJP-ruled government’s dream of building the temple will remain in the Budget book while he will construct the temple by defeating them in the upcoming elections.

“They might have announced ‘Rama Mandira’ but I only will have to build that. If they wanted to build then they should have done this three years ago and I would’ve accepted it. But now in two months there will be an election and this announcement will remain in the book only. They (BJP) can’t build Rama Mandir. I know who will be forming the government in the upcoming elections. So I will have to build the Mandir”, Kumaraswamy said.

While presenting the last Budget of the government before the upcoming polls, CM Bommai said, “A majestic Rama Mandira will be constructed in Ramadevara Betta of Ramanagara.”

He also said that over the next two years, a comprehensive development and renovation drive of various temples and mutts will be undertaken by the government with an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore.

Last year in December, Ramanagara district in-charge Minister and Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan urged CM Basavaraj Bommai to constitute a development committee to build a temple at Ramadevara Betta on the lines of the Sri Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Ramanagara, a part of the Vokkaliga-dominated old Mysuru region is a JD(S) bastion where BJP is trying to make its inroads. Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita Kumaraswamy, who is a present MLA from the constituency, recently announced that their son Nikhil Kumaraswamy will be contesting from Ramanagara in the upcoming elections.

Additionally, Ramanagara is also the home district of state Congress President D K Shivakumar.

Read all the Latest Politics News here