Vijayapura: Defending his statement given against the RSS, Former Chief Minister, H. D. Kumaraswamy has questioned whether any Congress leader has the guts to question RSS and its functioning.

Speaking to media persons after accompanying JD(S) candidate Naziya Angadi who filed her nominations for Sindgi by-polls in Sindgi town on Thursday, he said that he has been raising questions on the functioning of the RSS.

Refuting the allegations that he is raising RSS issues during the by-polls only to garner the votes of Muslims, Kumaraswamy said that on one hand, BJP makes such accusations on the other the Congress calls the JD(S) as ‘B’ team of the BJP.

“ You tell me whom to believe. I am only asking Congress and the BJP to seek votes on the bases of the development. Since I have given adequate funds for the development of Sindgi when I was Chief Minister, therefore, I have the moral right to seek votes on the development aspect”, he said.

Brushing aside the allegations that his party has given ticket to Muslims in the by-polls only to divide the Muslims votes in order to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidate, Kumaraswamy said that the party has given ticket to Muslims community since the Congress has used them merely as vote bank.

“ We have given ticket to Muslims candidates who are well-educated and highly qualified. We have not given ticket to any Tom, Dick and Harry. It means that we have identified a potential candidate with the objective of winning and not to divide Muslim votes”, he said.

Claiming that Muslims need higher representation in politics, Kumaraswamy said that he has decided to offer tickets to at least 25 Muslim candidates in the next assembly polls.

Holding Congress responsible for the BJP government coming to power in the State, he said that leaders such as Siddaramaiah should be blamed for the growth of the BJP in the State.