Bengaluru: Former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday accused the two national parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of replicating the Muzaffarnagar experiment ahead of the State Assembly polls in Karnataka.

He said that both parties had tried to exploit the Muzaffarnagar riots to woo majority and minority communities and a similar thing is happening in Uttara Kannada.

He described the communal tension in Uttara Kannada district as Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh prior to the 2013 Assembly elections.

Accusing the anchor of a news channel of demanding money from his party leader for “promoting” him, he said the anchor was trying to “tarnish” his image by releasing video clips of his “off-the-record” remarks. Kumaraswamy said he has decided to take legal recourse.