Likening the BJP-JDS joint Mysuru Chalo padayatra (walkathon) against the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam with the ‘Ashwamedhayaga,’ Union Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that they will not relent unless Siddaramaiah is removed as the Chief Minister.
“We will not stop till Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resigns. We will cleanse the corruption of the Congress,” Kumaraswamy said while speaking in Ramanagara on Monday, August 5.
The march faced early doubts when Kumaraswamy withdrew his support from the protest, citing the involvement of BJP leader Preetham Gowda in the campaign. Preetham is accused of distributing videos related to a sexual assault involving Kumaraswamy’s nephew, Prajwal Revanna. Preetham has been named in the fourth FIR filed against Prajwal following the online circulation of over 2,900 videos.
Despite the controversy, Kumaraswamy, a minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has taken a leading role in the padayatra.
The shift reportedly comes after Kumaraswamy’s meeting with the BJP top brass in Delhi which includes Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal and Union food & civil supplies minister Pralhad Joshi.
Kumaraswamy vowed to continue the protest until Siddaramaiah steps down, asserting that the Congress government’s days are numbered.
“BJP and I are out to clean the stink of Congress corruption as you have destroyed the fabric of administration all over the State,” he said.
He criticised the Congress for rebranding Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South, questioning the value of such a name change. “Will the land value appreciate merely by changing the name? I know the fraud played on the people under Brand Bengaluru,” he said.
Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Kumaraswamy said that the Congress leader should be ashamed to claim that he belongs to the caste of Bengaluru’s founder Kempegowda. Both the leaders belong to the Vokkaliga community. “He (Shivakumar) says that his father was measuring gold. I don’t know whether he was weighing gold or horsegram (hurulikalu). There are several people from Kanakappura in Ramanagara. Why are they not weighing gold? There are several people who run shops and trades. All of them know the real truth about the gold weighers,” Kumaraswamy said.
The protest, which began on August 3, is part of a seven-day march demanding CM Siddaramaiah’s resignation over allegations of his involvement in illegal site allotments by MUDA. Meanwhile, Governor Gehlot has requested the Chief Secretary of Karnataka to submit a detailed report on the allegations against Siddaramaiah.