The Congress hit back at the state government and rubbished the allegations (File)
It was local political rivalry linked to civic polls and not communal disharmony that led to the violence in Bengaluru in which three people lost their lives, the BJP government in Karnataka said today.
The violence on Tuesday followed an offensive Facebook post by the nephew of a Congress MLA. However, the state government said the tussle for political space between the Congress and its ally Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) was the main trigger.
Many SDPI activists are among more than 200 arrested after the violence.
Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan also indicated that the government was looking at banning the SDPI, which is allegedly linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamist group accused of extremist activities by the BJP.
"It is a matter of time - SDPI and PFI will be banned. We are looking forward to banning SDPI and PFI," said Ashwath Narayan.
"There was an indication that the violence was more because of political differences and rivalry between two political parties. They are into vote-bank politics. This has resulted in this kind of violence and one-upmanship," he added.
The clashes began on Tuesday evening when protesters attacked Mr Murthy's home in Bengaluru's DJ Halli. The 50-year-old leader's home - along with two police stations - was the target of mobs that set fire to cars, damaged property and threw stones. The police resorted to firing to control the crowd. The violence left three dead and many injured, including dozens of policemen.
Reports suggest the flare-up was linked to upcoming polls to the city's civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and alleged differences between local corporators and the Congress MLA, who was earlier in the Janata Dal Secular.
Also the SDPI, say reports, has been trying to make inroads in the locality, which has a considerable Muslim population.
"They selected Congress areas. Because for many years the SDPI supported Congress. Now they want their independent identity. No Hindu-Muslim-Christian," the minister said.
The Congress hit back at the state government and rubbished allegations of a role in the violence.
"It is totally baseless. The failure of the police to immediately act on the social media post started it. The police delayed action for three hours. They did not accept the complaint and people's emotions were involved so there was disturbance, violence. Now they are trying to blame us. They say one of the members arrested is from Congress. But he is from the SDPI. It is the failure of the police, administration and intelligence which caused this," Saleem Ahmed, working president of the Karnataka Congress, told NDTV.
On the government planning to ban SDPI, Mr Ahmed said, "We are not against banning SDPI. But other communal organisations should be banned also."
The areas hit by violence are calm; gatherings remain banned there and there is increased police presence on the ground.