BJP to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha on first day of monsoon session of K'taka legislature

Bengaluru, Jul 11 (PTI) The BJP in Karnataka on Thursday announced that it would lay siege to Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state legislature and secretariat here, on July 15, to protest against the policies of the Congress government, calling it "anti Dalit and anti SC/STs".

The nine-day long monsoon session of Karnataka Legislature is scheduled to begin on July 15.

This decision was taken at the party's office bearers meeting held here that was presided by BJP state unit President B Y Vijayendra and attended by Karnataka BJP co-in-charge Sudhakar Reddy, among others.

"The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is anti Dalit. They have swallowed the money that should have been used for the ST community, and the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) funds that should have been used for the welfare of the SC/ST communities have been diverted for guarantee schemes," state BJP General Secretary Sunil Kumar alleged.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting here, he said, the office bearers meeting felt that this government has done great injustice to the SC/ST communities.

"The (previous) BJP government had increased the reservation for these communities for their welfare, but the Congress government that came to power by using the names of Dalits and STs is indulging in corruption with the money meant for the welfare of these communities. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the captain of this, and his entire Ministry has agreed to this. This is a sorry state," he added.

The government should have worked for the welfare of the SC/ST communities through its programmes and schemes. But, it is misusing the funds meant for their welfare, Kumar alleged and called the government "anti Dalit" and "anti SC/ST".

"This is the government of scams -- with MUDA scam, Valmiki corporation scam, SCSP TSP scam, Labour department scam -- this government has a chain of scams to its credit. This is a zero development government," he said.

Condemning the policies of the government, the BJP office bearers meeting has decided to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha on July 15, Kumar said.

"We call upon the people and party workers from SC/ST communities to participate in this in large numbers. Condemning the stand of the Congress and Siddaramaiah by laying siege to Vidhana Soudha -- we will demand for Chief Minister's resignation and that they apologise to Dalits and SC/STs, as they came to power in the name of these communities, but misused their funds," he said.

There will be a protest meeting at Freedom Park on July 15 in which BJP SC/ST morcha workers, leaders and public representatives will participate, followed by which they will lay siege to Vidhana Soudha, he added.

Also, BJP will be holding a "mega" protest in Mysuru under the leadership of party state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in Assembly R Ashoka on July 12 in connection with an alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which involves plots given to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi, Kumar said, "They will lay siege to MUDA office there." Noting that BJP has taken the upcoming bypolls to three Assembly and one Legislative Council seats, he said, discussions were held in today's meeting regarding the plan of action to win these bypolls.

He said by July 30, District and Mandal level executive meetings will be held for widening the organisational functioning of the party.

"The state government's anti-Dalit policies, scams and zero development policies should be taken to the people." PTI KSU ROH