Opposition BJP on Friday launched a two-day overnight protest against the State government over the proposed sale of 3,667 acres of land to Jindal Steels.
The party leaders’ wordplay referring to the coalition government, however, turned controversial. Shobha Karandlaje, MP-elect from Udupi–Chikkamagaluru, in a tweet termed the government as “CoJa government”, referring to the Congress and the Janata Dal (S). The word is a disparaging reference for transgender people in Kannada. This soon gained traction on Twitter, drawing criticism.
The former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also tweeted: “Ms. Shobha, if only your policy-making skills were as good as your wordplay, you would have implemented something like Mythri [scheme for transgenders].” He advised her to “at least try not to use unparliamentary words that may hurt the already marginalised section”.
Earlier in the day, BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is leading the protest, charged the government with being insensitive to the plight of people during drought. He claimed credit for the Chief Minister’s announcement of reconsidering the decision to sell land to Jindal.