Bengaluru: Thousands of Kuruba community members thronged the State capital of Bengaluru today to participate in a mammoth convention here seeking inclusion of the community in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The convention is being held at the sprawling  BIEC (Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre) at Madavara in the outskirts of Bengaluru  on Bengaluru-Tumkur Highway (NH-4).

The convention is the culmination of over a three-week long padayatra from Kaginele in Haveri District to Bengaluru, in which almost all seers from the community took part.The padayatra was led by Kaginele Kanaka Guru Peetha Seer Sri Niranjananandapuri Swamiji.

Lakhs of Kuruba community members from across the State took part in the day-long convention, during which the State Government was urged to recommend the Centre about the inclusion of the community in ST list. The speakers at the convention warned of a movement if the demand of ST tag is not met.

Ministers K.S. Eshwarappa, MTB  Nagaraj and R. Shankar,former Ministers H.M. Revanna and A.H. Vishwanath and a host of other legislators and leaders from the community were among those who attended the convention. 

The convention was conspicuous with the absence of former CM and Congress leader Siddharamaiah, who belongs to Kuruba community.

 Due to the convention, the Bengaluru City Police had diverted traffic on the ever busy Bengaluru-Pune National Highway. 

The highway stretch near Madavara saw thousands of vehicles stranded causing huge traffic jams running over ten kilometres.

The Bengaluru Traffic police had a tough time in clearing traffic snarls caused in various parts of the city on account of the convention.