On hijab ban lift, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge's message for BJP: ‘Set your house...'

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge backed CM Siddaramaiah's decision to lift the ban on Hijab and urged the opposition BJP to “set their own house in order”.

Priyank Kharge, the Karnataka Minister for IT & BT and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) on Saturday chimed into the raging Hijab controversy, supporting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's decision to revoke the restrictions placed by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime in 2022.

Congress leader Priyank Kharge.(File)

The son of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, the cabinet minister is also the Chairman for Communications of the KPCC. He was reacting to allegations by the opposition BJP that the ruling party was doing “appeasement politics” and playing “divide and rule”.

Kharge asserted that the decision was as per the law and hit out at the saffron party by saying they should first “set their own house in order”.

“Whatever the Karnataka government is doing is as per the law and framework of the Constitution. BJP has no work to do, they should set their house in order first,” he said, while speaking to reporters.

The Karnataka unit of the BJP is heavily opposing the lift on the Hijab ban, B Y Vijayendra sating that the Congress-led government in the state is “dividing young minds along religious lines”.

"CM Siddaramaiah's decision to withdraw the Hijab ban in educational institutions raises concerns about the secular nature of our educational spaces. By allowing religious attire in educational institutions Siddaramaiah government is promoting dividing young minds along religious lines, potentially hindering the inclusive learning environment," he said in a social media post.

The Hijab row first started in January last year when a Government Pre-University College in Udupi allegedly denied entry to six female students who were dressed in headscarves (hijab).

(With ANI inputs)