Supporting protesters is not the same as funding them: BK Hariprasad

CH NES, KALABURAGI Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President BK Hariprasad has rejected the allegation by Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy that the Congress funded the CJP protest, asserting that extending legal and other assistance to protesters is different from financing an agitation. Speaking to the media in Dharwad, Hariprasad said the Congress stood by those fighting to protect the Constitution and safeguard their rights. He questioned who would help children if they were allegedly jailed unlawfully and who would bear their legal expenses if they could not afford lawyers. “Would providing legal assistance, paying lawyers’ fees or giving money to stitch the national Tricolour also be considered funding. We provide the necessary support to those conducting protests, but that does not mean we are funding their agitation. Only those involved in bribery and corruption seem to understand funding in that sense, he remarked. Responding to Minister Priyank Kharge’s statement that the CJP and the Congress were one and the same, Hariprasad said the Congress supported everyone fighting for their rights. Those who fight for their rights are our people. We will continue to support protesters, he said. Questioning former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, Hariprasad asked why he had not also sought investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax Department. People did not expect politics to stoop to this level. Everything must eventually reach a conclusion. Let us wait and see how far this issue goes, he added.