“The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) recently rose in protest against the Congress government in Karnataka — they believed that the party was planning to bring 162 private temples under government control.

The Congress, even before it came to power in the state, had made its intentions clear — Hindu places of worship must stay under government control, as evidenced by the past statements of two of Karnataka Congress’ main men.

What They’ve Said

In 2021, the then-Karnataka Congress chief, and now Deputy Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar had described the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s plans to free Hindu temples from state control as a “historic blunder…….”