Bengaluru, Aug 12 (IANS): The BJP Yuva Morcha on Wednesday staged a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, demanding that the Karnataka government and Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar seek the resignation of Minister B. Nagendra over the alleged multi-crore scam in the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
The party workers raised slogans that the Congress high command and Rahul Gandhi are shareholders in the tribal welfare scam.
Addressing the protesters, BJP Yuva Morcha Bengaluru Central district president Jagadish R. Chandra said Nagendra should resign as the case related to the alleged scam was still under investigation.
“An investigation into the case is still underway. Nagendra had resigned earlier in connection with the controversy, and it is not right to give him another opportunity to serve as a minister,” he said.
Chandra warned that if Nagendra did not step down, the BJP Yuva Morcha would intensify its agitation under the leadership of BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra and Yuva Morcha state president Dheeraj Muniraju.
He also accused the Congress government of failing to protect the interests of farmers, students and women. Criticising the Cabinet expansion, he alleged that the government had not given a ministerial berth to a single woman.
“Does the government want only women’s votes? What kind of justice is this?” he questioned.
Chandra also criticised the government over its response to student protests in Dharwad, alleging that the Chief Minister was more focused on travelling to Delhi than addressing issues within the state.
“If students protest in Dharwad, no one goes to meet them. But the Chief Minister runs to Delhi. What kind of justice is this?” he asked, alleging that the Congress government was functioning according to the directions of its high command.
He further criticised the delay in allocating portfolios to the newly inducted ministers, claiming that the delay was affecting the functioning of the administration and causing inconvenience to people.
“Development has come to a standstill. This is an extremely weak government,” he alleged.
BJP Yuva Morcha Bengaluru North district president Yatin Venkatesh, office-bearers and party workers were among those who participated in the protest.
Reacting to the protest, Minister B. Nagendra said in Bengaluru that the BJP was raising the issue because it was in the Opposition, and described the allegations against him as “ridiculous”. He said the charges against him were before the court and that the trial was ongoing.
He said the demand for his resignation was politically motivated and stemmed from the BJP’s inability to tolerate the progress being made by the Congress government in the state.
“Wherever the BJP is weak, the party tries to create trouble for Congress leaders. This is a phenomenon seen across the country. If I join the BJP, all the charges against me would be washed away,” he said.
Nagendra claimed that he had been targeted because Congress had swept all five Assembly constituencies in Ballari district. “Of the Rs 84 crore recovered, not a single rupee has been recovered from me,” he said.
He also alleged that the CBI was raking up the issue by issuing notices and releasing statements during the Cabinet expansion.
“They have levelled conspiracy charges against me and want to implicate me in the case and keep me entangled in it for 10 to 20 years,” he alleged.
—
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.