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Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says media turned her comments into 'BJP issue'

A BJP leader criticised her for the tweet

43-Kiran-Mazumdar-Shaw Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chief of Biocon, on Wednesday ruffled feathers when she tweeted on “communal exclusion” in Karnataka.

Mazumdar-Shaw was referring to recent controversies over restrictions on Muslims from trading near the vicinity of temples in the state.

She had tweeted on Wednesday “Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT became communal it would destroy our global leadership. @BSBommai please resolve this growing religious divide.”

She is the first senior corporate leader in Karnataka to comment on the issue.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday appeared to be uneasy with Mazumdar-Shaw's remarks. He called on all sections of society to observe restraint before commenting on social issues.

BJP IT operations chief Amit Malviya tweeted about her comments. He wrote “It is unfortunate to see people like Kiran Shaw impose their personal, politically coloured opinion, and conflate it with India’s leadership in the ITBT sector. Rahul Bajaj once said something similar for Gujarat, it is today a leading automobile manufacturing hub. Go figure...”

He also accused Mazumdar-Shaw of having ties to the Congress. He tweeted “Good to see Kiran Shaw wake up to the religious divide in Karnataka. Did she speak up when a belligerent minority sought to prioritise Hijab over education or Congress framed rules excluding non-Hindus from Hindu institutions. She helped Congress draft their manifesto. Explains?”

Later on Thursday, Mazumdar-Shaw clarified on her comments. She tweeted the media was “very irresponsible in making this into a BJP issue”. She affirmed confidence that the Bommai government would resolve the issue. She argued “vested interests are hijacking the issue to political parties. I am confident our CM @BSBommai will resolve the matter peacefully. I am a proud kannadiga n don’t want to see these incidents detract from economic progress. All parties need to work towards this.”

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