Karnataka is set to witness a full-fledged political drama on the streets as the opposition BJP embarks on a week-long padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru to “expose the corrupt Siddaramaiah government,” while the Congress counters with a series of public meetings to “clear the air”.
In an interview with News18, Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra said the present government was solely interested in accumulating real estate for their benefit and did not have the welfare of people in mind. He claimed that from day one, Siddaramaiah’s detractors had been trying to unseat him from the post of chief minister and that the Congress was only interested in looting the people of the state of their rights, money, and livelihood.
The BJP is set to walk from Bengaluru to Mysuru beginning August 3 to highlight the “misdoings of the Congress in Karnataka” and to make people aware of the scams they have been involved in, such as the alleged illegal MUDA land allotment to Siddaramaiah’s family, the Valmiki illegal money transfer, and more.
“We are demanding a thorough CBI inquiry into these scams,” he said.
Though Karnataka’s home minister Dr G Parameshwara said the government will not permit them to undertake the padayatra, the BJP is persistent that they will go ahead as they too have the right to protest.
“This Congress government is only interested in looting people and accumulating real estate. DK Shivakumar wants to build the tallest tower in Bengaluru — who cares about it? They want tunnel roads and such towers instead of providing developmental work. They have put on hold all people-linked schemes that the previous BJP government introduced and are unable to keep up with their own guarantees as they have no money,” said Vijayendra, adding that Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) have stopped as there are no more elections around the corner.
Regarding the padayatra, he said the protest walk was not restricted to the illegal allotment of 14 sites to Siddaramaiah’s family; it was also to show the people of the state how they were looted by the Congress within the 16 months they have been in power.
“Siddaramaiah calls himself the champion of the Dalits, but he allows the funds meant for the development and well-being of the Scheduled Tribes to be siphoned out of the Valmiki corporation? People should know how the money was (mis)used to purchase liquor and fund Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
Referring to the MUDA scam, Vijayendra said the sites meant to be allotted for the backward classes and the poor were being distributed to Congress workers and their relatives, causing a loss of over Rs 4,000 crore to the exchequer of the authority.
“Both the MUDA and the Valmiki scams are an insult to the people of Karnataka,” he said.
Vijayendra said Siddaramaiah should not try and take refuge by saying that the MUDA land allotment took place during the BJP regime.
“It was a decision taken at the district level by officials but, since then, there have been several notifications and letters from top officials stating that the 50:50 allotment of land should be stopped. Despite a government order, DC report, and a government notification asking for such allotments to stop, it continues. You cannot blame the BJP for your wrongdoing,” Vijayendra said.
Interestingly, the state BJP chief, who has been battling infighting within the party, said Siddaramaiah’s detractors have been trying to remove him from power from day one.
“From the day he took over as CM, his own party members have been trying to unseat him. If you look at the last assembly session, while the BJP was seeking answers on the MUDA scam, none of his cabinet ministers defended the chief minister. He could not answer on the floor of the House as he had no defence. This is the state of affairs of the ruling party,” he said.
Siddaramaiah has sought the sacking of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her recent jibes at the Congress government in Karnataka, where she said that the deteriorating law and order situation in the state had an adverse impact on businesses operating in the state and that companies were leaving Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah called the statement an “utter lie” and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately remove Sitharaman from the Union Cabinet, saying it was extremely risky to have her as finance minister without basic budgetary knowledge. The Congress also said that Sitharaman, who is a nominated Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, should speak and act responsibly by ensuring that such exits do not happen if they did take place, which the Congress clearly denied.
Vijayendra countered this by seeking an explanation from the Congress as to how much developmental work has taken place during their tenure.
“The worsening law and order situation, increased number of murders, weak leadership of Siddaramaiah, and lack of development have adversely affected the image of the state,” Vijayendra said.
The onus is on Siddaramaiah to build confidence among investors and create an environment that is suitable for investment in the state, he added.
On the issue of internal rebellion in the BJP, Vijayendra said senior leaders are aware of how the party functions. Senior BJP leader Arvind Limbavali, who recently lost the 2023 assembly polls, had said the BJP leaders “completely failed as the Opposition in the monsoon session when it came to upping the ante against the Congress and the corruption charges”. Also, leaders like Ramesh Jarkiholi and Sriramulu have decided to undertake a parallel padayatra while Vijayendra is leading one from Bengaluru to Mysuru, exposing the chinks within the party.
“Arvind Limbavali is a senior leader and has been observing the activities that the BJP karyakartas have been undertaking in the past few months. The BJP workers have been on the streets across the state protesting against the fuel price rise, supporting the milk price rise, and highlighting the Valmiki and MUDA scams. Since he is no longer an MLA, he may not have observed all that we have been doing,” Vijayendra quipped. He did not want to comment on any other leaders.
