• Source:JND
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In a fresh political slugfest in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the Congress government over the recitation of the Quran at an event. The BJP has called the event a government programme while the ruling party has defended it, saying that the event was organised by Congress corporators.

The event was held on October 5 in Hubbali, but the video has surfaced recently and has gone viral since then. During the event, Labour and District In-charge Minister Santosh Lad launched development works on DevarGudihal Road and distributed free sewing machines to beneficiaries.

Reacting to the incident, BJP MLA and Deputy Leader of Opposition Arvind Bellad took to X and said, "Blatant misuse of government platforms by the Congress government in Karnataka!".

He went on and said, "In Hubballi, a publicly funded event was hijacked by Congress leaders and officials — turned into a full-fledged party show. Party banners on stage, Quran recitation in a government function, and officials themselves behaving like Congress workers."

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"The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Commissioner RudreshGhali and Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhuvanesh Patil participated like party guests instead of enforcing government protocol. This is a serious breach of administrative ethics and a misuse of taxpayer money," he added.

The BJP has demanded an enquiry into the concerned officials. Balled said, "I’ve written to the Chief Secretary demanding an enquiry and immediate action against the concerned officials. If the government fails to act, this issue will be raised strongly in the upcoming Legislative Assembly session."

Congress had defended the event, saying that it was not a government programme and there were recitals from the Hindu religion too.

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Karnataka minister Santosh Lad said, "He has only taken this particular video and is showing it. There was a recital from the Quran. But there were other recitals too, for Hindu gods and goddesses... So many recitals from the Hindu religion. So why does he has objections, I do not know".

"It was organized by corporators of the Congress," he said, insisting that there was nothing wrong with displaying Congress flags at such an event," added Lad, who was also present at the event.