Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Council B.K. Hariprasad on Thursday stirred a controversy by saying that the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Veer Savarkar were “same”.

Hariprasad, a senior Congress leader, said: “It is because of Jinnah and Savarkar the country is facing the current situation.”

“Veer Savarkar was an atheist. He does not believe in any gods. Similarly, Jinnah was also atheist. Two atheists came together to bring the nation to the present state,” he opined.

Commenting on the campaign to install Veer Savarkar’s photos along with Lord Ganesh during the festival, he stated that it would be a matter of joke if an atheist is placed.

“I don’t know what to call those who have come out with this idea. Without reading their biography and history, this is being done for political benefit,” Hariprasad said.

“The concept of India is given by Mahatma Gandhi. The BJP does not have any moral right to talk about the integrity and unity of this country. The BJP has polluted the nation in the name of language, religion and caste,” he added.

Hariprasad stated that unlike BJP, his party has not resorted to riots, murder, extortions in the pretext of conducting yatras. “Whenever BJP has taken up yatras, there were communal clashes,” he said.

“Ours is ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, this will unite the divided minds. The Indian nation is at the cross roads. On the one hand there are real patriots and on the other hand there are fake patriots who are ‘sanghis’ (RSS),” Hariprasad said.

“The BJP attained power (in the Centre) 8 years ago. The BJP has been ruling Karnataka for 3 years. But, both governments have failed to respond to the difficulties of the people. Women are not protected, farmers are not getting subsidies… no compensation for flood victims. There is inflation and people are outraged,” he said.

“To conceal all these, BJP leaders are distorting history and creating conflicts and dragging issues like Savarkar rath yatra to the forefront,” Hariprasad added.

With inputs from News18