139-km march to conclude with a public meeting in Mysuru on Aug. 10

Bengaluru: In their attempt to corner the Congress-led State Government over various scams, NDA allies BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) will take out an eight-day padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru from Aug. 3, covering a  distance of 139 kms.

The padayatra will pass through the JD(S) strongholds in the Vokkaliga heartland of Ramanagara, Mandya and Mysuru districts. It will culminate with a public rally in Mysuru on Aug. 10 in which BJP’s central leaders will also participate.

The padayatra is against the alleged irregularities in site distribution by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), financial irregularities in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, and diversion of funds meant for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

A BJP-JD(S) coordination meeting held in Bengaluru last evening, chaired by BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra, decided to take out the seven-day protest march to put the Government on the mat. BJP leader and former CM B.S. Yediyurappa, JDS leader and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will launch the padayatra in Bengaluru and participate in it. 

Kumaraswamy and his Ministerial colleague Pralhad Joshi were present at the meeting. “We discussed the two alleged scams in detail and decided on the padayatra,” Vijayendra told reporters.

“The ST Development Corporation scam has seen Rs. 187 crore, intended for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes, misappropriated by the Congress Government, along with numerous other scams like the MUDA scam that runs into thousands of crores of rupees.”

Regarding potential Government obstruction of the padayatra, Vijayendra asserted, “We will not be deterred. If the Government tries to stop our padayatra, we will continue. They have obstructed us before, but we are resolute this time.”

Yediyurappa said the padayatra would attract thousands of people and appealed to people to participate in big numbers to remove the ‘corrupt’ government. “The protest will continue till the Chief Minister resigns. The issue has already been discussed in Parliament. The Chief Minister should resign if he has some honour,” he said.

Pralhad Joshi said, ‘’This is a cent percent corrupt Government. Therefore, we will continue the fight to increase public awareness and will also take up this issue legally.’’