Senior BJP leaders, including the three who held the press conference, met Kumaraswamy earlier in the day to placate him, sources said.
Published Aug 02, 2024 | 10:29 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 02, 2024 | 10:29 AM
BJP leaders meet HD Kumaraswamy. (BY Vijayendra/ X)
The BJP on Thursday, 1 August, placated its miffed ally Janata Dal (Secular) into joining its ‘padayatra’ against the alleged MUDA scam in Karnataka and asserted that the JD(S) leader and Union minister HD Kumaraswamy will be part of the march starting from Bengaluru on 3 August.
The development comes a day after the JD(S) on Wednesday, 31 July, pulled out of the proposed foot march against the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), including to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife.
Speaking to reporters, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra, Union minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in the state, played down Kumaraswamy’s earlier announcement of keeping out of the yatra.
Kumaraswamy had expressed anger over the mention of BJP leader Preetham Gowda, who was instrumental in exposing the alleged sex scandal involving the JD(S) leader’s nephew Prajwal Revanna, as a key organiser of the foot march.
Kumaraswamy said that his party was not taken into confidence and lashed out at the BJP for allegedly picking a leader of the saffron party from the Hassan district to be among those given the responsibility to spearhead the protest.
“Who is that Preetham Gowda? Preetham Gowda ventured to finish off the family of Deve Gowda. They (BJP) call a meeting with him (Preetham Gowda to discuss preparations for the march) and ask me to sit next to him…the person who put poison to my family… Who is responsible for the distribution of pen drives? There is a limit to my tolerance,” an angry Kumaraswamy told the media.
It is alleged that Preetham Gowda was behind leaking the obscene videos allegedly involving Kumaraswamy’s nephew and former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. Pen drives containing the videos were distributed across Hassan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and cases of sexual assault were charged against Prajwal.
“Are they seeking support for this? Do they not know what happened in Hassan? Who is responsible?” Kumaraswamy thundered.
Senior BJP leaders, including the three who held the press conference, met Kumaraswamy earlier in the day to placate him, sources said.
Agrawal later projected a picture of unity in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in the state and said both the BJP and the JD(S) are organising the foot march from Bengaluru to Mysuru from 3 to 10 August to protest the alleged fraudulent allotment of sites by MUDA.
Asked about the JD(S) leader’s unhappiness with the presence of Gowda, Agrawal said the yatra is a programme of the party’s organisation and individuals are not invited. Vijayendra as the BJP’s president in Karnataka and Kumaraswamy as his party’s face in the state will be the key figures in the programme, he claimed.
Kumaraswamy is very much part of the yatra and will be there on 3 August, he said.
He was also dismissive of claims by BJP dissidents, including seasoned party leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal, saying there can be some aberrations in a big party like the BJP.
Yatnal has alleged that Vijayendra is hand in glove with Congress leader and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar to unseat Siddaramaiah.
Agrawal said the padayatra will give voice to people’s anger with the corruption of the Congress government as he claimed that the MUDA ‘scam’ is worth over ₹4,000 crore.
The state government has also diverted funds meant for the welfare of SCs and STs for political purposes and for freebies, he said, asserting NDA’s MPs and MLAs from the state will be joining the yatra.
(With PTI inputs)
