Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday, September 9 said the Dharmasthala mass burial case was the result of an internal dispute between the BJP and the RSS, and does not involve the Congress.
Shivakumar made the remarks while speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2025. “My high command asked me, I don’t want to disclose the name. One day when I was travelling, they asked me about this question. I said, you don’t involve — this is all a hoax, it is all bogus,” he said.
He added, “I know Dharmasthala well. It is an internal squabbling between the BJP and the RSS.”
When asked by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai if Dharmasthala was an internal squabble between the BJP and RSS, Shivakumar replied, “Yes, I am on record. I am on record, 100%. If you want, I will give the documentation, the statements, the speeches of the then BJP president, the BJP ministers of the district, and the RSS leaders. All of this is on record on a national channel.”
On the role of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, Shivakumar said, “Of course, it will do (the investigation). It is on the job. We have to share this with the country. This is not a Dharmasthala problem, it has become a national problem. It is about belief. I know Veerendra Heggade and Dharmasthala – people have faith in them.”
Shivakumar also claimed that none of the parties involved initially wanted the controversy to escalate. “None of them, until I said on the assembly floor that there is a big conspiracy, opened their mouths. Now everyone is trying to take credit for their claims. Again, a group goes there to do politics…” he said.