Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, September 2 alleged that the BJP was using the Dharmasthala case for political purposes. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge questioned the BJP’s silence on the allegations raised by Sowjanya’s mother Kusumavati.
Fielding questions from reporters in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah described the BJP’s “Dharmasthala Chalo” rally as a “political yatra.” He said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was already probing the matter independently and asked why the BJP was pressing for an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). “The BJP did not seek an NIA probe when the SIT was formed. Only after the bodies were not found did they begin insisting on a central probe. Do they not have faith in the local police?” he asked.
So far, skeletal remains have been found at two spots, out of the 17 spots shown by the whistleblower to the SIT.
Siddaramaiah recalled Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade had welcomed the formation of the SIT and stressed that the government had given it a free hand. On the BJP’s demand for a reinvestigation into the 2012 Sowjanya case, he said the CBI had already conducted an inquiry and submitted its report. “On one hand, they shout slogans in support of Heggade, and on the other, they are provoking Sowjanya’s family. This shows they are only playing politics,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Priyank Kharge, in a post on social media, questioned the BJP over Kusumavati’s statement that members of BJP were criticising her and the family saying they made money in her daughter’s name.
“Your own party members are saying Sowjanya’s family made money in her name and built such a big house. Why are BJP leaders silent without answering her?” he asked.
The BJP has offered to pay for the legal expenses of appealing the CBI verdict in the murder of Sowjanya, a 17-year-old who had been raped and murdered in Ujire in October 2012.
Priyank also questioned BJP state president BY Vijayendra. “Shouldn’t the Sowjanya family first get justice for the harassment given by your party? The BJP went to Dharmasthala on behalf of whom, when Kusumavati has complained against those very people?” he asked.
He demanded clarity from the BJP on whether it was with or against Sowjanya’s family. He also criticised the party for offering legal assistance to Kusumavati without acknowledging that the legal battle was against BJP leaders themselves. “If the BJP was truly serious about justice, after hearing Kusumavati’s words they should have launched a ‘Return from Dharmasthala Chalo’ instead of a rally,” he said.
Countering the BJP’s series of ‘Dharmasthala Chalo Yatra’ campaigns condemning alleged conspiracy against the Hindu pilgrimage centre, the Congress launched the ‘Dharma Vijaya Yatra’ on Wednesday, September 3 in support of Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala temple and Rajya Sabha Member Veerendra Heggade.
Former minister and six-time MLA Tanveer Sait inaugurated the yatra in Mysuru city. Thousands of party leaders and workers, led by Congress MLA K Harish Gowda, set off to Dharmasthala in hundreds of vehicles.