BJP's BS Yeddyurappa said that 'there is no plan or strategy for hardline Hindutva' and condemned the antics of party leaders including MPs Pratap Simha and Anantkumar Hegde.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Yeddyurappa sought to distance the party's pro-development campaign from the aggressive Hindutva campaign of sections of the BJP.
"Pratap and Anantkumar Hegde are like that (hardline Hindutva campaigners) by nature. But we are going to polls with Modi government's achievements and the welfare programmes launched by us during my tenure," he said.
The former Chief Minister is BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka.
The BJP has already begun canvassing for votes with the Parivartana Yatra, a series of rallies across the state that started on November 2.
"There is no plan or strategy for hardline Hindutva. Our national leaders and myself have spoken to Pratap Simha and Anant Kumar Hegde and told them to show restraint and not create any confusion in the minds of the people," said Yeddyurappa.
Both leaders are known for their outspoken views on religion and Hindutva.
Pratap Simha, an MP from Mysuru was taken into preventive custody earlier this month before Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in Hunsuru. He is also facing a defamation suit from Prakash Raj over derogatory comments made against the actor.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde is facing an FIR for allegedly calling Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah a ‘bootlicker’ during a Parivartana Yatra rally in Belagavi.
In 2016, Hegde had reportedly told media persons that there will be terrorism in the world as long as Islam exists. “Until we eradicate Islam from the world we will not be able to eliminate terrorism from the world. Islam is a bomb placed to disrupt world peace. As long as there is Islam there will be no peace in the world,” he was quoted as saying.