Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel has urged party workers to focus on “love jihad” rather than “small issues” like civic amenities.

“Don’t talk about small issues such as roads and sewage. Don’t say Vedavyas (Mangalore South MLA Vedavyas Kamath of the BJP) did not raise his hand (raise civic issues) in the Assembly,” Kateel told booth-level workers in Mangalore on Sunday. Karnataka is scheduled to go to polls in the summer.

He urged them to talk about “love jihad” — a Sangh parivar coinage alleging a Muslim plot to lure Hindu girls into romance and marriage to convert and radicalise them.

The lack of civic amenities is likely to be a major issue during the state elections, expected in April-May, with many voters accusing their MLAs of failing to take their problems up in the Assembly.

But Kateel indicated a possible line of BJP campaign, saying: “If you are concerned about the future of your children and if you want to stoplove jihad, you need the BJP.We need the BJP to get rid oflove jihad.”

State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar said he was not surprised. “When have the BJP’s priorities ever been about development or employment? At least the party is being honest about it now,” he tweeted.

Congress MLA and spokesperson Priyank Kharge said Kateel’s remarks showed that the BJP had no achievements on development to showcase and needed to polarise voters.

Karnataka has witnessed a spurt in moral policing, revolving around the idea of “love jihad”, with vigilantes harassing interfaith couples— even mere co-passengers on public transport. Sangh parivar outfits have been clamouring for a specific law against love jihad and an “anti-love jihad police force”.

State home minister Araga Jnanendra last month rejected the demand saying the anti-conversion law passed recently by the Assembly was sufficient to handle such cases.