Police personnel having a scuffle with BJP-JD(S) workers during the padayatra in Mysuru on Friday.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
Buoyed by the response to their Mysuru Chalo padayatra as it entered Mysuru on Friday, the leaders of the Opposition coalition declared that they would take the fight against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on alleged irregularities to the logical end, and also consider the options of approaching the President and waging a legal battle.
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok told The Hindu on the sidelines of the padayatra that they would consider the option of petitioning President Droupadi Murmu against alleged irregularities involving the Chief Minister after consulting JD(S) leader and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and party’s central leaders.
“We want to see if we can take a delegation of all our legislators to the President and petition her against alleged irregularities in the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, allotment of MUDA sites and diversion of funds meant for the welfare of SC/ST communities,” he said. Mr. Ashok said, however, they would wait to know Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s next move on the show-cause notice served to the Chief Minister in the MUDA case.
He also said the padayatra had helped in strengthening the ties between coalition partners BJP and JD(S) and had turned into “a step towards the possibility of both forming a coalition government in future”.
‘Mockery of democracy’
BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra told The Hindu that the party would explore the option of taking up a legal battle in the MUDA case. He also claimed that the days of Mr. Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister were numbered.
Ridiculing the Janandolana counter campaign being taken up by the Congress against the NDA allies, he said it was a “mockery of democracy” on the part of the ruling party to resort to protest campaigns instead of initiating action through its government if there were any irregularities. “The Congress should know that the Opposition has the responsibility and obligation to fight against corruption to protect democracy,” he said.
Responding to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s declaration that he would stand by the Chief Minister, Mr. Vijayendra said such remarks were only for public optics. “Everyone knows that it is Mr. Shivakumar who has taken up the issue against Mr. Siddaramaiah with the Congress high command as he is an aspirant for the Chief Minister’s chair,” he alleged.
The padayatra that started from Bengaluru on August 3 will come to an end with a convention in Mysuru on Saturday that will be attended by senior leaders of both the parties.
Protest against police
A minor scuffle ensued between the Opposition BJP-JD(S) workers and the police when the latter tried to persuade them to delay the entry into Mysuru till Congress workers, who were attending a convention by the ruling party in Mysuru, left the city.
Trouble started when the police tried to halt the Opposition members when they tried to commence the padayatra after a short break for lunch about 5 km from Mysuru. Though the volunteers indulged in a scuffle with the police and managed to move forward, the police again blocked their movement for some time. This irritated the Opposition volunteers who resorted to a protest. However, BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra and JD(S) State Youth Wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy intervened and convinced them to wait till the police gave permission to move. After sometime, the police allowed the padayatra to enter Mysuru.
