In what can be seen as first signs of trouble between the NDA partners – BJP and JDS – Union minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday announced his party’s withdrawal from the weeklong ‘padayatra’ that the two allies had planned against the Siddaramaiah regime.
The padayatra is scheduled to commence from Bengaluru on August 3, and the BJP had planned to make it a high-profile one. But the latest development has put a question mark on the padayatra while giving some relief to the ruling Congress.
Kumaraswamy, who is also the JDS state president, has been upset that the BJP gave importance to former Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda in planning the padayatra. “Can we share the stage with someone (Preetham Gowda) who sought to poison the Deve Gowda family?” the Union minister asked while talking with reporters in Delhi. The former CM hit out at the young Hassan leader, pointing fingers at his role in the alleged distribution of pen drives containing video clippings of alleged sexual acts of his nephew Prajwal Revanna, days before the Lok Sabha polls in Hassan. The Congress won the seat, and Revanna Jr is in judicial custody on charges of alleged sexual abuse of women. “Don’t we know who distributed pen drives?” Kumaraswamy said, while seeking to draw a line between the electoral alliance with BJP and political decisions.
The JDS core committee, which met under the chairmanship of MLA GT Deve Gowda on Tuesday, decided not to take part in the padayatra as this was not the right time to hold such an event when rains were wreaking havoc in parts of Karnataka. “People have been facing distress due to rains, flash floods, landslides and crop losses. If we go on a padayatra, it will trigger criticism from people,” he said.
The Union minister also sought to know how the padayatra would benefit people. “It is important that we launch a legal battle (in the MUDA scam)…We will not even extend moral support to the yatra. Why should we support when we are not taken into confidence (by BJP)?” JDS, he added, was dominant in regions between Bengaluru and Mysuru, but his party had not been taken into confidence.
Kumaraswamy accused the BJP of pre-planning the yatra and informing the JDS later only for the sake of formality. “This is not the right time, which is why we have withdrawn.”
Senior BJP leaders, however, did not offer a reaction immediately, but the party leaders are of the view that they should go ahead with their plans. The party state unit has sought suggestions from the central leadership and will go by its direction. The BJP is demanding a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore site allotment scam in Mysuru and chief minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation over his family “illegally” getting 14 plots in an upscale area in Mysuru and diversion of government funds meant for welfare of tribals into personal accounts.
A retired high court judge is probing the site allotment case in Mysuru while a special investing team of the state police is probing illegal transfer of ₹89.63 crore of funds from the Maharshi Valmiki ST Corporation to unknown people in Hyderabad. The unearthing of the case led to his resignation as state’s tribal welfare and sports minister B Nagendra. He is in judicial custody now.
