Mumbai, Apr 7: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said he is a "Hindu Vaishnav," refuting Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's claim that the BJP chief is a Jain.
Shah, while speaking to reporters after a rally to mark the BJP's 38th foundation day here, said, "I maintain that the Karnataka government's move to give Lingayats a separate religion status is a move to divide the Hindus."
"The UPA government had rejected the recommendation (to give Lingayats the status of a minority group) in 2013. The present decision has only been taken to stop Yeddyurappa from becoming the chief minister, This is an election gimmick," he said.
When asked about the Karnataka chief minister's comment last month that Shah is a Jain, the BJP chief said, "I am not a Jain, but a Hindu Vaishnav."
Responding to Shah's barb that Siddaramaiah is not an 'Ahinda' (a Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) leader but 'Ahindu' (non-Hindu) leader, the Karnataka chief minister had said in Mysuru last month that Shah should first clarify whether he himself is "Ahindu or not".
"Amit Shah is a Jain. He needs to clarify first whether he is Ahindu. Jain is a separate religion. How can he talk about me like that," Siddaramaiah had said.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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Ghar wapasi.
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