The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched a 10-day padayatra from Lingasugur in Raichur district to Ballari, with the party seeking to turn the campaign into a broader protest against alleged corruption, diversion of funds meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, inadequate drought relief and neglect of North Karnataka.

The padayatra, originally planned to demand the resignation of Planning and Statistics Minister B. Nagendra over the alleged irregularities in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, was continued even after Mr. Nagendra resigned as Minister. The BJP has now expanded the campaign to raise a range of issues against the Congress government.

Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa flagged off the padayatra after a public meeting at Lingasugur. Leaders, including BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok, former Chief Ministers Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanswamy and former Minister C.T. Ravi, participated in the programme.

“This padayatra is a campaign against the misrule and corruption of the Congress government. It marks the beginning of the BJP’s new fight against the government,” Mr. Yediyurappa said.

Questioning whether Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had the freedom to discharge his duties, the veteran leader accused him of “going to Delhi for everything and falling at Rahul Gandhi’s feet.”

Fund ‘diversion’

Mr. Vijayendra said the party would not rest until “the ₹187 crore misappropriated in the Valmiki corporation case” was recovered and remitted to the State exchequer. Mr. Vijayendra also claimed that around ₹50,000 crore meant for SCs and STs had been diverted for implementation of the guarantee schemes.

Pointing to the drought situation in the State, Mr. Vijayendra alleged that more than 200 taluks were facing drought while only 101 had been declared drought-hit. He accused the government of discriminating between constituencies represented by Congress and BJP MLAs in the assessment of drought conditions.

OThe State government is least concerned about the development of North Karnataka. It has not released the required funds for major irrigation projects in North Karnataka, including the Navali Balancing Reservoir and the Nandawadagi Lift Irrigation Project,” he said. T

Another resignation

He predicted that “another senior Minister” would resign in the coming days and that the BJP would return to power in the 2028 Assembly elections.

Claiming that 175 taluks were drought-hit, Mr. Ashok said, “If you don’t declare the remaining 74 taluks as drought-affected within a week, the people will declare the government bankrupt.”

Terming Mr. Nagendra a “scapegoat”, Mr. Ashok alleged that the funds misappropriated in the Valmiki corporation case were sent to the Congress high command, which, he said, used them for its election campaign in other States.

Mr. Bommai accused the State government of indifference to North Karnataka, alleging that no funds had been released for major irrigation projects in the region, especially the Upper Krishna Project, in the last three years.

He also questioned the manner in which drought-affected taluks were being identified, saying the assessment should not be based solely on satellite imagery but should include ground-level verification.

“When I was Chief Minister, the reservation for Scheduled Castes was increased from 15% to 17% and reservation for Scheduled Tribes from 3% to 7%. Now the Congress government has restored the reservation to its original position. This is how the Congress government is acting against SCs and STs,” he said.