BJP lawmakers and leaders stage a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of Vidhana Soudha on Thursday, demanding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
Bengaluru: The BJP lawmakers and workers, led by Opposition leaders in Assembly and Council R Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanswamy, respectively, staged a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at ‘Vidhana Soudha on Thursday, demanding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation following a special court order for a Lokayukta police probe against him in the MUDA site allotment case.
A high drama was witnessed when the agitating BJP workers marched towards the Kengal Hanumanthaiah Gate in a bid to lay siege to the Vidhana Soudha. The police personnel stopped the protesters at the gate and bundled them up into a bus.
“When we protested inside and outside the assembly they (CM and Congress) called it politically motivated. When the Governor accorded sanction to prosecute the CM, they said it was at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre. Now, the High Court and special court have given orders stating that the allegations against Siddaramaiah need to be investigated,” Ashoka told reporters on the sidelines of the protest.
Siddaramaiah must resign and face the investigation. We want a fair probe, and government property should be protected, he said.
On senior Congress leader K B Koliwad reportedly suggesting that Siddaramaiah should resign, Ashoka said there is similar demand from several leaders within the ruling party. ...There will be rebellion within their party soon seeking Siddaramaiah’s resignation, before that, it is good for him to quit, the Opposition leader said.
Ashoka demanded that the ruling Congress must dissolve the assembly and seek a fresh mandate as they have lost the moral right to continue in power. “After Chief Minister Siddaramiah came to power, development in the state has taken a hit badly while corruption has reached its pinnacle. This ruling Congress has lost the moral right to even hold Cabinet meetings in the Vidhana Soudha. They should dissolve the assembly and seek a fresh mandate,” he said.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, who had given a call for protest on Wednesday, did not participate citing health reasons. Vijyendra in his post on X said “You (CM Siddaramaiah) have been raking up the Godhra episode, let me remind you that PM Modi is acquitted from all charges in this case and he has become Prime Minister for the third term in a row. But in your case, both the high court and special court’s verdicts have gone completely against you and it’s your moral responsibility to resign and make way for a ‘free and impartial’ investigation into the case,” he wrote.