Karnataka assembly elections 2018: “This election is not about roads, water or other issues.This election is about Hindus vs Muslims, Ram Mandir vs Babri Masjid,” says BJP MLA Sanjay Patil. Karnataka assembly elections 2018: “This election is not about roads, water or other issues.This election is about Hindus vs Muslims, Ram Mandir vs Babri Masjid,” says BJP MLA Sanjay Patil.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA in Karnataka has raked up a controversy with his comment that the upcoming state assembly election is “not about roads and drinking water but about Hindu-Muslim incidents”.

“This election is not about roads, water or other issues. This election is about Hindus vs Muslims, Ram Mandir vs Babri Masjid,” ANI quoted BJP lawmaker Sanjay Patil as saying in Belagavi. Patil represents the Belagavi Rural constituency in north Karnataka. The video of Patil making this comments has been doing rounds on social media and has evoked criticism from many quarters.

This election is not about roads, water or other issues.This election is about Hindus vs Muslims, Ram Mandir vs Babri Masjid: BJP MLA Sanjay Patil in Belagavi. #KarnatakaElections2018 (17.4.18) pic.twitter.com/yZmGrJBs2f — ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2018

Karnataka will go to polls on May 12 and the results will be declared on May 15. The tenure of the current Karnataka Legislative Assembly will expire on May 28.

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BJP MLA from Bairia, Surendra Singh, had recently said that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a contest between two “mentalities” — Hindu and Islamic. “Ye 2019 ka chunav Islam banam bhagwan hone ja raha hai (The 2019 elections are going to be Islam versus bhagwan),” Singh told the public during a rally in Ballia on Thursday.

READ | Bairia BJP MLA at UP rally: ‘Lok Sabha elections will be Islam versus bhagwan’

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