Congress is up in arms against guv

Dharwad/Bagalkot/Vijayapura/Belagavi/Kalaburagi/ Chitradurga/Haveri/Davanagere: Congress workers across north Karnataka districts led by the district ministers, legislators and party workers took out rallies in district headquarters and staged demonstrations on Monday against Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot for sanctioning prosecution of chief minister Siddaramaiah in connection with Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam.
The protesters handed over a memorandum addressed to the President of India to the respective DCs, requesting immediate intervention to direct the withdrawal of prosecution sanction against the CM by the governor. The memorandum said the governor’s action was a political vendetta and a violation of standard operative procedure and constitutional values.
The ministers and leaders who spoke during rallies accused the BJP of misusing the Raj Bhavan to settle political score. They charged that the BJP of trying to destabilise the Congress govt in the state was creating hurdles using the Raj Bhavan and Central agencies like ED and CBI.
The leaders expressed confidence that Siddaramaiah, who is a mass leader with an impeccable record of four decades in politics, would come clean and the party brass was fully supporting him. They termed the governor’s action unconstitutional and affirmed that the Congress would win the legal and political battle in this case.
In Dharwad, labour minister Santosh Lad led the march from Kadapa Maidan to deputy commissioner’s office. He was accompanied by MLAs Prasad Abbayya, NH Konaraddi, Congress corporators and party office bearers.
In Bagalkot, Congress workers led by district minister RB Timmapur staged a demonstration in front of the deputy commissioner’s office to protest governor’s sanction for prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The protesters took out a procession from the district Congress office in Navanagar shouting slogans against Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
Minister RB Timmapur accused the governor of targeting the Congress CM while sparing BJP leaders Murugesh Nirani, Shashikala Jolle and JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy against whom complaints have been filed with the Raj Bhavan.
Bagalkot MLA HY Meti, Hungund MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, district Congress president SG Nanjayyanmath, Bilgi MLA JT Patil, Badami MLA BB Chimmanakatti, Samyukta Patil and others also spoke.
In Vijayapura, minister for major and medium industries and district minister MB Patil led the Congress protest march from Siddeshwar temple to DC’s office. MLAs Yashwantraygouda Patil, CS Nadgouda, Ashok Managoli, MLC Sunilgouda Patil, former MLA Raju Algur, DCC president Mallikarjun Loni and others participated.
Belagavi: Cong workers back CM
Congress workers, led by Belagavi North MLA Asif Sait and MLC Channaraj Hattiholi, took out a protest march in Belagavi on Monday. The demonstration was in response to the governor’s sanction to prosecute chief minister Siddaramaiah in the Muda case. Condemning the governor’s decision, the activists of Congress took out a massive protest march from Congress Bhavan to the deputy commissioner’s office in Belagavi and raised slogans against the governor and BJP functionaries. The central govt is conspiring against the CM. Siddaramaiah will win this case and the governor will face embarrassment, the protesters said, adding that the governor should resign immediately. Legislative council member Channaraj Hattiholi said governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot is behaving like a puppet of the central govt.
Leaders clash in Kalaburagi
The Raichur district Congress committee protested at Dr BR Ambedkar Circle in the city on Monday. Protesters shouted slogans like ‘massacre of democracy’ and accused the central govt of misusing the office of the governor. Minister NS Boseraju, MP G Kumar Naik, MLAs Hampanagouda Badarli and Hampaiah Naik, and many functionaries, including MLCs A Vasanthkumar and Sharanagouda Baipur, took part in the protest. There was a clash of factions among Congress leaders. The war of words for a chair to sit during the protest led to an uproar, with the leaders almost coming to blows in front of minister NS Boseraju and other people’s representatives as there was no seating arrangement. A fight between Congress district president Basavaraj Patil Itagi and leader Zindappa. Later, there was a verbal altercation between MLC Vasanthkumar and Zindappa.
Demonstration in Chitradurga
Congress leaders orchestrated a demonstration to express their vehement opposition to the governor's decision granting permission for legal proceedings against chief minister Siddaramaiah in Chitradurga on Monday. District minister D Sudhakar and others participated in the protest.
Protest in Haveri
Haveri district minister Shivanand Patil, MLAs Basavaraj Shivannavar, UB Banakar, Prakash Koliwad, deputy speaker of Karnataka legislative assembly Rudrappa Lamani, DCC president Sanjeev Neeralagi and hundreds of party workers and office bearers participated in a protest against governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot allegedly granting permission to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah in Haveri on Monday.
Shamanur leads the way in D’gere
The Congress workers’ protest in Davanagere district was led by MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa and MP Prabha Mallikarjun in Davanagere on Monday against the governor. Congress MLAs, elected representatives, party office bearers and others took part in the demonstration.