Vokkaliga leaders ask DVS not to step down
In a significant development, prominent Vokkaliga leaders asked ruling party legislators belonging to Vokkaliga community to quit en masse as a mark of protest against the party’s decision to ask Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to make way for Jagadish Shettar. The meeting, attended by representatives of various Vokkaliga organisations, lashed out at the BJP for using factors like caste and community as means gain votes. Later, they called on Mr Sadananda Gowda and appealed to him not to step down under pressure from senior leaders of the party.
The seer of Kunchitiga math, Nanjavadhoota Swamiji, said all Vokkaliga legislators should resign and seek an explanation from the party leadership on why Mr Sadananda Gowda was removed from the post. Later, the seer led a rally of over 1000 people and staged a protest in front of Town Hall. Meanwhile, two BJP legislators – Mr Muniraju and Dr Ashwathnarayana, who arrived at the meeting, were mobbed by participants who demanded their resignation. The legislators said they were ready to resign but left the venue later on.
At the meeting, some leaders of Vokkaliga organizations even went to the extent of demanding a separate state encompassing the Old Mysore region. They contended that most of the revenue was generated from Old Mysore area, while political power and developmental works were cornered by north Karnataka.
Kannada Rakshana Vedike chief Mr Narayana Gowda, however, opposed the idea of division of the state and suggested the people of south Karnataka should speak up against injustice meted out to Vokkaligas.
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