Siddaramaiah tweeted tilaka and saffron are essential part of Hindu culture (File)

Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that the BJP "appropriated" and "abused" Hindu religious symbols for political gains, adding that he was now scared of people wearing Tilak (vermillion) on forehead. Without naming anyone, he also appeared to be taking a swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"I am scared of people who put long Tikas with Kumkum or ash," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Tuesday.

"Tilaka and saffron are essential part of Hindu culture and has sanctity to it. But since when the BJP tried to appropriate and abuse these symbols for their political gains, people have started fearing and doubting those who use these symbols," he today tweeted.

"There is a Chief Minister from BJP who wears saffron and applies Tilak but has lot of criminal cases against him. Will people respect him or feel scared of him?" he added.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the chief pontiff of the Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, is one of BJP's star campaigners.

The comment by the Congress leader came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Karnataka in which he launched a sharp attack at the JDS-Congress state government.

"Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is a remote-controlled CM. The Congress-Janata Dal Secular alliance has come to power by backstabbing people," PM Modi alleged.

He alleged that the two parties had promised a farm loan waiver for votes but had "forgotten" the promise after taking power.

The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in last year's assembly elections. The Congress and JDS entered into a post-poll alliance to form a government in the state.

There have been problems in the alliance, with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy recently threatening to quit over adverse comments by Congress lawmakers.

However, despite the differences, the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular eked out a seat-sharing deal for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections today in Delhi with a 19-9 division, sources said.

With inputs from ANI