670 Muslims, 578 Hindus, 6 Christians arrested for communal violence in 2013-17

Bengaluru, Aug 6: Firebrand BJP Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday said that control of state power by Hindus is absolutely essential for sustenance of Dharma.

His comments, in a series of tweets, came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya.

"Dear Hindus, Most important lesson is that control of State power by Hindus is absolutely essential for sustenance of Dharma. When we didn't control State, we lost our temple. When we regained, we rebuilt. The 282 (seats) in 2014 and 303 (seats) in 2019 to Sri Narendra Modi made today possible!", Surya, who is also the party's BJP youth Wing state general secretary, tweeted.

He also said that the survival of India depends on the survival of Sanatana Dharma.

"The Sanatana Dharma, that is nationalism,' Sri Aurobindo had said in his Uttarapara speech. But what does it mean? Along with Jai Sri Ram, the purohits also chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai - That is Dharmic nationalism. If Dharma survives, India survives," he said in another tweet.

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Several state Congress leaders, including its President D K Shivakumar, among others, were detained by police as they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan here against the alleged attempts by BJP to topple the party's government in Rajasthan.

Shivakumar, along with Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, state Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre, Salim Ahmed among others were stopped by the police midway as they marched from KPCC office towards Raj Bhavan.

Congress leaders then staged a dharna at the place where they were stopped. Addressing the gathering, Shivakumar accused the BJP of trying to "murder" democracy by destabilizing and removing elected governments.

"We wanted to protest against it and submit a memorandum to the President through the Governor," but the Karnataka government by using police was not letting them proceed towards Raj Bhavan, he said. "Despite our being a peaceful protest, the police stopped us," he said.

Siddaramaiah, echoing similar views, said peaceful protests against injustice was the right of every citizen. Alleging that the BJP was attempting to destabilise and remove the elected government in Rajasthan as it did in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, he said the Governor's office there (Rajasthan) was being 'misused'.

The Governor was working like an agent of the central government, he charged. He said, despite repeated appeals by the Rajasthan cabinet, the Governor there had not convened the assembly session, for the floor test to take place and for Congress to prove its majority. Police subsequently detained Shivakumar and some other Congress leaders and took them to a nearby police station.

They were later released. Meanwhile, as the Congress' protest amid Covid19 pandemic did not follow social distancing norms, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar hit out at that party's leaders. In a tweet Sudhakar said, for Congress leaders getting publicity was more important than social concerns.