Suresh Kumar opposes BJP plan to hold Legislature Party meeting over cross-voting at Dharmasthala

Bengaluru: Senior BJP MLA S. Suresh Kumar has objected to the party's reported decision to convene a BJP Legislature Party meeting at Dharmasthala in connection with allegations of cross-voting in the recent Legislative Council election.

His reaction came after BJP state president B. Y. Vijayendra stated that a meeting of BJP legislators would soon be held at Dharmasthala to discuss the issue of alleged cross-voting.

Expressing his displeasure in a Facebook post, Suresh Kumar said the announcement had left him disturbed. He urged party leaders not to drag the revered pilgrimage centre into a political controversy.

“Dharmasthala has its own sanctity and spiritual significance. As I have said in the Assembly earlier, after my mother, the one to whom I feel the deepest bond is Lord Manjunatha. Please do not bring Dharmasthala into an issue arising out of the low-level act of cross-voting in politics,” he said.

The BJP legislator further remarked that those responsible for the alleged cross-voting had committed a wrongdoing comparable to betraying their own mother.

He also expressed concern that the reputation of Dharmasthala was being unnecessarily drawn into controversies. According to him, if legislators accused of cross-voting were made to take oaths or declarations at the shrine in an attempt to prove their innocence, it would only add to the seriousness of the impropriety rather than resolve it.

Suresh Kumar appealed to party leaders not to involve the shrine of Lord Manjunatha in political disputes and urged them to preserve the institution's dignity and spiritual stature.