Bengaluru, Aug 22 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday accused the BJP of using the Dalit card against him.

He claimed that the BJP leaders who were unable to answer questions regarding the alleged misdeeds of Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot were resorting to the tactic of playing caste politics.

Taking to Facebook, CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday commented on the statewide protests condemning alleged derogatory statements against the Governor and stated, "If you (BJP) truly respect the Dalit community, allow Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot to perform his duties constitutionally without putting political pressure on him, and stop these dramas of protests and resistance.'

"The BJP leaders of the state, who are unable to answer our questions regarding the misdeeds of the esteemed Governor of the state, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, are using the Dalit card, which is an insult to the entire self-respecting Dalit community.

'The same BJP leaders who preach that 'there is no caste among Hindus, religion is everything' remember caste when it suits them,' he professed.

"I have a few simple questions for the BJP leaders of the state who are protesting that the Governor has been insulted. First, if you have such respect and admiration for Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who belongs to the Dalit community, why did you bring him here and make him a puppet in a cage instead of keeping him in the Union Cabinet?" CM Siddaramaiah questioned.

"Why did you cut short his active political career even though he hadn't reached the age to join the 'guidance board' which is akin to a retirement home?" CM Siddaramaiah maintained.

"Depriving him of a Union Minister's position and using a leader from the Dalit community for your political vendetta against your opponents, isn't that injustice and an insult to the Dalit community? BJP leaders, didn't your conscience prick even a little when you used a Dalit leader for your political gains?" he professed.

CM Siddaramaiah added in the post that the Dalit community was aware enough to understand the manipulative politics of using and discarding Dalits practiced by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar.

'They are not so naive as not to see through the crocodile tears you are shedding in the name of Dalits now,' he charged.

'At least late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee appointed Bangaru Laxman, who belonged to the Dalit community, as the National President of the party. However, the Sanghi mindset within the BJP couldn't tolerate this and accused him of corruption, eventually leading to his demise under that burden,' CM Siddaramaiah claimed.

'Learn from the way our party's senior leaders treat our current National President, Mallikarjun Kharge, who belongs to the Dalit community, with respect and dignity,' CM Siddaramaiah emphasised.

"You have no moral right to speak about Dalits when you are bent on changing the Constitution, oppose reservations, and secretly embrace caste discrimination while pretending to be secular in public," he stated.

The BJP while condemning statements against Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot is staging protests across the state and demanding the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah.

/IANS