No, Mr. Siddaramaiah. I am an Indian first, you can’t divide us in ‘North’ and ‘South’

Everything is fair in love and war or so they say. It is election season in Karnataka and all the three political parties are doing all they can to woo the voters. While the BJP is trying to bank on the anti-incumbency factor and trying to make corruption as an election plank despite having the likes of Gali Janardhan Reddy at the helm of affairs, the Janata Dal (Secular) would hope to be the kingmaker and make some quick bucks during the government formation. The Congress has been doing what it does best and what has been their core competency since independence: divide the people on the basis of caste, religion, language and whatever else that is possible. After trying to divide the Hindus by attempting to alienate the Lingayats, CM Siddaramaiah is now playing the Kannada card to the hilt by projecting PM Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as North Indian imports. The CM claims that BJP Chief Ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa has been reduced to a dummy and hence the PM and UP CM are being imported to run the election campaign.

For all his tall claims about Kannada pride, let us look at some of the so-called imports of the Karnataka Congress. At the top of the list, we have the Gandhis, who are imports in the real sense (from outside India). Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi have been Congress presidents since 1998. Was Sonia Gandhi not an import when she contested elections from Bellary? During 2004 to 2014, the nation paid a very heavy custom duty in the form of countless scams when the Italian import Sonia Gandhi was virtually running the country. Isn’t Rahul Gandhi, who is seen with the CM during election campaign, not an import? The nation witnessed him struggling to say the name ‘Visveswaraya’ in one of his speeches. Why did Siddaramaiah name his failed pet project ‘Indira’ Canteen when there are numerous Kannadigas, who have excelled in different fields? Despite being a dynasty sycophant all these years, CM Siddaramaiah has the temerity to call the PM an import.

One of the most powerful ministers in the current Siddaramaiah government is KJ George. George is a Malayali, who was born in Kerala and later relocated to Coorg in Karnataka. One wonders how George passed the import test, became a powerful minister in the government and has been responsible for a lot of mess that was created during the Congress (mis)rule.

In 2013, Congress motor mouth Digvijay Singh of ‘RSS ki saazish’ fame was named as the General Secretary in charge of Karnataka. He was holding this position till he was thrown out in 2017 and Siddaramaiah was the CM during this time. Couldn’t Siddaramaiah think of any Kannadiga worthy enough to be the General Secretary during this time? Or was he helpless and could not go against the dynasty and prevent the import?

The radical Islamist outfit PFI with whom the Congress has a tacit understanding in Karnataka with some of the PFI candidates being withdrawn to help the Congress against the so-called communal forces, is an organization based out of Kerala. It is not just an imported organization, but a violent one at that.

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi held a press conference in Karnataka and accused the PM Modi government of giving step motherly treatment to Karnataka. Why did Siddaramaiah not have any local face hold this press conference and opt for an import to do it?

One also wonders what the CM’s views are on exports from Karnataka. Divya Spandana, the head of Congress’ social media wing, was a movie star and has acted in numerous Tamil movies like Polladhavan, Vaaranam Aayiram and Kuththu. Why did the then Congressman SM Krishna allow himself to be exported as the Governor of Maharashtra?

Last but not the least, the atheist Siddaramaiah, who becomes superstitious occasionally and a Hindu during elections, said that he has ‘Ram’ in his name. Since Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya, wouldn’t he qualify as an import? Does this mean that the CM has an imported name?

Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar had forewarned that the Congress campaign in Karnataka would be dirtier than their campaign in Gujarat and he has been proved right. From dividing the Hindus to creating a Kannadiga vs non Kannadiga (imports) narrative to taking the services of a radical organization like the PFI, the Congress has played all the dirty games on expected lines. It is unfortunate that the dynasty and its sycophants still command some clout despite being reduced to 44 Lok Sabha seats because of the ecosystem that they have built over the years. Anyone with some love for the nation will want Siddaramaiah and the Congress to bite the dust in the Karnataka election.

Mr CM, much as I am myself a Bengaluru huduga, please get this clear that I identify myself first as a proud Indian before anything else and don’t see my fellow countrymen from outside Karnataka as ‘Imports’.