Belagavi: Accusing BJP leaders of inciting people to violence in the name of Hindutva in the state, CM Siddaramaiah lashed out in particular at Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde on Thursday for “speaking the language of goondas.”

The Chief Minister, who was addressing a convention of Congress party workers in Gokak, charged the BJP with provoking violence between people of different religions and caste. “They have the inhuman tendency of killing human beings,” he alleged. Targeting Mr Hegde in particular, he said, “After instigating people in the name of religion he asks me whether I want a bigger backlash. Only goondas speak the kind of language he speaks. All these leaders are nalayak and unfit to be in public life.”

Continuing his tirade against the BJP , he said its agenda included Hindutva, protection of Hindus, Uniform Civil Code, construction of the Ram Mandir and scrapping of Section 371.

“They claim they will build a Hindu nation. I ask you do they have a Hindutva contract? My name is Siddaramaiah and I am a Hindu. Are Rama and Krishna their assets? We too celebrate all Hindu festivals,” he added, recalling that an RSS leader, Raghunandan was quoted as saying recently in Hubballi that the RSS workers only held flags because of the presence of the police, and would have held swords and stones instead if they were not around.

Rubbishing the BJP’s claim that the law and order situation in the state had slipped out of control, the Chief Minister argued that it was because of its peaceful environment that Karnataka topped the list of states in the FDI index , attracting 19 per cent of the investments made in the country. Gujarat, on the other hand, accounted for a paltry 1.65 per cent of the foreign investments.

“Karnataka is the only industry-friendly and corruption-free state in the country today,” he asserted. Mr Siddaramaiah blamed the absence of a strong party network in Gujarat for the Congress’ defeat in the that state. “But the situation is different in Karnataka, where the party has a strong leadership. By winning the state assembly elections next year, we will give a gift to our new AICC president, Rahul Gandhi,'' he declared.