BENGALURU: Opposition BJP leaders led by Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra, former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, former DyCM Govind Karjol and others were detained by the police when they attempted to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha. They protested at Freedom Park on Thursday morning demanding that CM Siddaramaiah resign over the alleged scams in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd, and Mysuru Urban Development Authority.
They shouted slogans against the State Government and alleged that the Congress’ anti-Dalit and anti-tribal face was exposed with the ST Corporation scam. Vijayendra spoke to the media as he was taken into preventive custody near Vidhana Soudha where the monsoon session of the legislature is on and said, “CM Siddarmaiah has no moral right to continue in the office.”
He warned that the BJP will protest till the CM resigns. Pointing out Wednesday’s statement issued by Directorate of Enforcement which is probing the scam, Vijayendra said, “Around Rs 90 crore was diverted from the state-run corporation to 18 fake accounts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A substantial amount of funds was utilised to procure liquor just prior to the recent Lok Sabha elections.” ED has also stated that high-end vehicles were purchased using the proceeds of the scam, he said.
After protesting in Freedom Park, BJP leaders and workers took to the streets and started moving towards Vidhana Soudha. As they tried to enter the Soudha, the police took the leaders into preventive custody.
BJP MLAs staged a walkout in the Assembly as soon as the session began Thursday in protest against the absence of some ministers. Speaker UT Khader convened the session at 10 am, and when proceedings started, no senior ministers were seen in the first row. Even seats on the second row, usually occupied by ministers, were vacant. The BJP MLAs, who took objection to this. Some legislators said the Speaker convened the session too early and they could not reach the House on time as they had to meet people from their constituencies. Khader said many bills have to be passed and many issues discussed in the House. “MLAs have to attend the session. People from your constituencies will not blame you for this. You won’t lose votes if you attend sessions early,’’ he said.
The Council witnessed a heated debate over the alleged multi-crore scam in the ST Corporation as BJP and JDS MLCs demanded that CM Siddaramaiah resign. While BJP and JDS MLCs attacked the Congress, members of the Ruling party counter-attacked by referr-ing to various scams during their rule. Leader of JDS legislative party in Council SL Bhojegowda slammed the government for the misappropriation of funds meant for the downtrodden section and demanded that the CM take moral respon-sibility and resign. He hit out at the Finance Depar-tment for not taking note of the irregularities. He also attacked a senior IAS officer, who reportedly wrote to the police asking them to handle the case in such a way that it wouldn’t embar-rass the government, and demanded his suspension. When Congress MLC Ivan D’Souza referred to the alleged scam in Bhovi Development Corporation during the BJP rule, BJP members objected demanding that he should speak only about the ST Corporation scam as the discussion was about that.
