Siddaramaiah compares BJP leaders to dogs, sparks controversy

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah stirred up a storm on Thursday after he allegedly compared BJP leaders to dogs. Speaking at an event in Mysuru, he said whenever he started talking, at least 25 people from the BJP would start barking against him.

"When I talk individually, 25 people from BJP start barking against me like Mudhol (hound) dogs. But when they bark, only I have to speak, no one else from our party speaks," Siddaramaiah said.

Mudhol Hound, also known as Caravan Hound, is commonly used by villagers in Karnataka for hunting and as guard dogs.

Siddaramaiah's comments came amid a raging controversy in the state over the revision of textbooks with a section of society raising objections over  the alleged replacing of a chapter on Bhagat Singh with an essay on a speech by RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

There have been demands by opposition Congress and some writers for sacking the textbook review committee chief Rohith Chakratirtha for allegedly "saffronising" school textbooks by including Hedgewar's speech, and omitting chapters on key figures like freedom fighters, social reformers, and writings of noted literary figures.

There are also allegations of erroneous content on 12th century social reformer Basavanna and certain factual errors in the textbooks, including accusations of disrespecting 'Raashtra Kavi' (national poet) Kuvempu and distortion of the state anthem penned by him.