BJP stir against use of SC/ST funds for guarantee schemes from September 25 in Karnataka

A statewide agitation against the Congress government's "misuse" of Rs 11,144 crore of SC/ST funds will be launched from September 25, former BJP deputy chief minister Govind Karjol said on Monday. 

The campaign will start on September 25 and go on till October 10. In the second phase, the agitation will start from October 11 to 25 in all districts. In the final phase, a foot march will be carried out from Dalit literary movement pioneer B Krishnappa's resting place Harihar to Vidhana Soudha in the second week of November, Karjol explained. 

Earlier, Karjol and other SC/ST leaders from the BJP B Sriramulu, P Rajeev, N Mahesh and others spoke on the issue at an event organised by Citizens for Social Justice, Bengaluru. 

The Congress government has decided to use Rs 11,144 crore for the five guarantee schemes. "For 60 years, the Congress has cheated SC/ST communities. We (BJP) might have lost. That's not the end of the world. We will get an opportunity in the future," Karjol said.

He called for a fight against the Congress government's decision to 'divert' funds from the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP-TSP).