JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of wanting to make India a "Hindu Rashtra".
The former prime minister also sought to know as to why article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir should be abolished.
"Why it should be abolished? The question is- why it should be abolished? I did not give article 370 there.
WhenKashmir joined India after an agreement with the then Maharajathere, article 370 (was agreed upon)," Gowda said.
He said, "There are Buddhists there (in J&K), Muslims, Hindus, Brahmins, Pandits, and there are many communities there.
After looking into the atmosphere that existed there, adecision was arrived at."
Advocating a system where all communities coexist together, Gowda reminding about Mahtma Gandhi's efforts to bring in peace in communal violence hit Noakhali in Bengal said, "...Gandhi got us freedom... Did these people (BJP) get us freedom? Ambedkar gave us constitution."