Karntaka: In response to statements made by H.D. Kumaraswamy enquiring if Congress's RR Nagar candidate for the by-polls had been chosen because of her caste, DK Shivakumar said that Congress has not and does not indulge in caste politics.
He dismissed the accusations by saying that he is Vokkaliga simply because he was born to Vokkaliga parents and that there is no deeper meaning to it.
"No doubt I am proud of my caste Vokkaliga. But that doesn't mean that I would indulge in caste or religion-based politics"' he said
"Being a Congress member and KPCC President, I have only one caste and that is Congress. Why should I speak about other castes," Sivakumar further reacted to the question whether Congress was using H Kusuma to secure votes from one particular caste.
Further, H.D. Deve Gowda, too, had made accusation regarding the same. He directly addressed D.K. Shivakumar in his statement and told him that he is free to experiment, but that it was impossible to win the by-polls with the strength of one cast alone.
When asked to respond to the said accusation, D.K. Shivakumar refrained.