The BJP has offered to pay for the legal expenses of appealing the CBI verdict in the murder of Swojanya, a 17-year-old who had been raped and murdered in Ujire in October 2012.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president BY Vijayendra told the media on Monday, September 1, that the party had offered to pay the cost of the appealing the CBI verdict in the Supreme Court. He said that Sowjanya’s family is yet to take a decision.
The CBI court had in July 2023, acquitted the lone accused in Sowjanya’s murder, Santhosh Rao, of the offence.
These developments occurred on Monday, after the BJP held its Dharmasthala Chalo rally and protest against the alleged attempts to defame the Dharmasthala temple and its administrator D Veerendra Heggade. Hundreds of BJP workers had gathered in Dharmasthala for the protest.
Before the convention began, BJP leaders from across the state, led by state president BY Vijayendra, met Veerendra Heggade and felicitated him at his house, which is located right next to the temple. The previous evening, Vishwa Hindu Parishat leaders met Heggade at his house to discuss various issues.
Speaking to the media after meeting Heggade, Vijayendra said that the party was not playing politics over the temple. “If we were here to do politics, we would have started a struggle when the government formed the SIT. But we waited patiently so that the SIT would investigate and reveal the truth and lies. We also wanted the truth to come out, so we waited.”
He said that it became necessary for the BJP to launch a campaign when the lies continued and the government did not do anything. “We decided to take to the streets and gave a call for Dharmasthala Chalo. When Hindu culture and Hindu traditions are being attacked, when our religious sentiments are being hurt, we cannot be still,” Vijayendra said.
Yelahanka MLA SR Vishwanath told reporters that after claims that hundreds of bodies had been buried, nothing had been found. “Today, it has been found that there is a big ‘burude (skull) gang’ and a big conspiracy. The truth is coming out every day.”
On the NIA investigation, he said, “It’s not that there is a political conspiracy; there is a foreign hand in this conspiracy. Once it comes out, no one else will dare to make such allegations.”
Reacting to the BJP’s campaign in Dharmasthala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “The BJP thinks they will get political benefits from this, but they won’t, because we have a lot of respect for Dharmasthala. They were quiet when the SIT was formed and thought that if they continued to remain quiet, they wouldn’t get any political mileage. This is chicanery.”
Other BJP leaders, such as Leader of the Opposition R Ashok, Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja, Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi, CT Ravi, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, B Sriramulu, and Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, were present during the protest meeting.