BJP to go ahead with foot march despite Karnataka minister’s resignation

The BJP will go ahead with its scheduled 10-day foot march from Raichur to Ballari beginning September 1, former minister B Sriramulu said on Saturday.

The saffron party decided to continue with its plan despite Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra resigned on Friday over allegations of Rs 89 crore scam in the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation in 2024.

The padayatra will begin at Lingasugur on September 1 and conclude in Ballari on September 10, covering nine Assembly constituencies, Sriramulu said.

The march was earlier announced as a campaign demanding Ballari Rural MLA Nagendra’s resignation.

“The speciality of the Government today is that it has accepted a resignation for the second time on the same charges,” Sriramulu said.

He said the march would be inaugurated at Lingasugur by BJP state president BY Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and Union ministers, including Pralhad Joshi and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

The march will pass through Maski, Sindhanur, Hanchanal Camp, Kanakagiri, Gangavathi, Kampli, Sandur and Ballari Rural before culminating in Ballari city, he said.

Sriramulu credited the BJP and JD(S) legislators’ protests in the Assembly with forcing Nagendra’s resignation, saying, “They ensured that a minister resigned within about 25 days.” He alleged that the Rs 187-crore irregularity involved funds meant for the development of Scheduled Tribe communities and was used during the Lok Sabha elections in Ballari and Koppal.

Sriramulu also rejected Nagendra’s contention that the Opposition was targeting him because he was a ‘Dalit’, questioning why the minister had resigned earlier in 2024 if there was no wrongdoing.

Although Nagendra is a Scheduled Tribe, the word Dalit is used in a larger sense in Karnataka, especially by politicians, to refer to downtrodden communities.

Sriramulu alleged that corporation accounts superintendent P Chandrasekharan, a Scheduled Tribe official whose death in 2024 brought the alleged irregularities to light, had been subjected to harassment before he committed suicide.

“The reason for your tears and suffering is the Congress,” Sriramulu said, addressing Nagendra.

While announcing his resignation, Nagendra turned emotional and blamed the BJP and the JD(S) for his sufferings.

Sriramulu said the BJP’s fight was aimed at protecting funds meant for Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries and rejected the charge that the Opposition’s campaign was politically motivated.

“We are in the Opposition. We have to do our job, and we have done it,” he said.

Nagendra announced his resignation on Friday, saying he was stepping down voluntarily to prevent embarrassment to the Congress and the Government while maintaining that he had no role in the alleged irregularities.

He also said he was prepared to give up his MLA position and challenged BJP leaders to face him before the “people’s court.”