Belagavi, Dec 27 (PTI) Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday asked the Congress in Karnataka not to trivialise terrorism.

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Bommai's remarks came during a discussion initiated by BJP national general secretary C T Ravi on terrorist activities in Karnataka.

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The ruling BJP charged that the Congress state president and Kanakapura MLA D K Shivakumar questioned the integrity of the Director General of Police Praveen Sood.

The BJP was taking objection over Shivakumar's purported remark that the Mangaluru cooker blast on November 19 was aimed at diverting public attention from the alleged voter data theft case.

Ravi highlighted the terror-related activities in the state including the cooker blast in Mangaluru. He, however, charged that the Congress state president Shivakumar questioned the integrity of Sood.

Reacting to this, Shivakumar said he has seen all kinds of thefts but not the theft of voter data where 8,000 Block Level Officers, were appointed by a private organisation to steal voter data.

"We have lost our leaders to terrorism and we oppose it..." Shivakumar clarified.

The Chief Minister charged that Shivakumar's statement on the Mangaluru blast gave an impression that he called the accused innocent.

He pointed out that the seriousness of the case could be gauged from the fact that the National Investigation Agency took up the probe.

Bommai also rejected Shivakumar's voter data theft charge, saying that addition and deletion of voters is not done by us and it was not part of BJP's culture.

"We will initiate steps in the voter case. There is no need for us to cover it up but I ask you not to trivialise terrorism," Bommai said.

Participating in the discussion, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said the integrity of the DGP was questioned.

"The integrity of the DGP was questioned for his statement but who should say on the issue of law and order if not the DGP? I condemn such statements," Jnanendra said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)