Mysore/Mysuru: Even as the week-long Mysuru Chalo Padayatra of the Opposition BJP-JD(S) combine is winding its way through Ramanagara and Mandya districts, the ruling Congress is gearing up to hold a mammoth rally  at the sprawling Maharaja College Grounds in the city on Aug. 9 to counter the ‘false’ allegations against CM Siddaramaiah.

The Mysuru rally scheduled for Aug. 9, a day before the Opposition Padayatra  reaches the city, is expected to bring thousands of Congress supporters from across  old Mysuru region including Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Hassan and Kodagu districts.

A preliminary meeting was held by Karnataka Shoshita Samudayagala Maha Okkoota in association with Karnataka Rajya Hindulida Jaatigala Okkoota and other organisations, at Kanaka Bhavan in Siddarthanagar here yesterday, to ensure success of the rally.

Former MLA M.K. Somashekar, who presided, hoped that the rally would thwart any attempts made by the Opposition unseat CM Siddaramaiah. Alleging that the BJP and the JD(S) have hatched a conspiracy to destabilise Siddaramaiah Government, he said that the Opposition would fail in their attempt to tarnish the image of the CM by unscrupulous means.

Former Karnataka Kurubara Sangha President B. Subramanya in his speech, said that CM Siddaramaiah was being unfairly targeted on false charges. Pointing out that the people of the State are aware of the scams of BJP and JD(S) leaders, Subramanya contended that any attempts to destabilise Siddaramaiah Government would fail. Asserting that the entire AHINDA (acronym for Alpasankhyata, Hindulida and Dalita) communities would stand behind the CM, he argued that the CM’s clean image cannot be tarnished.

KPCC Spokesperson M. Lakshmana said that the rally would not only serve to highlight the conspiracy hatched by the Opposition BJP and JD(S) against Siddaramaiah, but will give Congress a platform to expose the corruption that had taken place in the State during the regimes of BJP and JD(S). He also charged the Opposition of unnecessarily targeting the CM in the alleged MUDA site scam, for ‘political reasons’.

City Congress President R. Murthy, District President Dr. B.J. Vijaykumar, KEA Chairman Ayub Khan, former Mayors Purushotham, Ananthu, Arif Hussain and Pushpalatha Chikkanna, leaders Sitharamu, Shivanna, N.R. Nagesh, Kempanayaka, Yeraganahalli Madegowda, Beerihundi Basavanna, K.V. Mallesh, Prakash and others were present.