Karnataka Waqf row: Worried Congress MLAs want Kharge to step in

Bengaluru: Nearly two dozen Karnataka Congress lawmakers are drafting a letter to their national president Mallikarjun Kharge seeking the top brass' intervention to manage the Waqf controversy, which they fear is working against the party's interests.

"We're writing the letter. We even plan to visit New Delhi," one of the 23 MLAs told DH, requesting anonymity.

Apparently, this group comprises of SC/ST, Vokkaliga and Lingayat lawmakers who are worried that the government has bungled in the way it handled the controversy in which farmers were issued notices identifying their lands as Waqf properties.

The opposition BJP has gone to town with this controversy, which has made national headlines. The saffron party held a statewide protest on November 4. Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya even managed to convince Jagadambika Pal, chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Bill, to visit Vijayapura and Hubballi on November 7 to interact with farmers. Surya is a member of the JPC.

"This was an unnecessary controversy. It has damaged the party. The BJP is using this to polarise people. Our voters are not only Muslims, but also Hindus. We won't be able to contest if the situation continues," the MLA said, urging Kharge to intervene and talk to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan.

After the controversy broke out, the Congress government became defensive with Siddaramaiah even pulling up officials and asking them to stop "troubling" farmers.