Shobha Yatra will be taken out from Oct 10: BJP

Davangere (Karnataka), Oct 9: Notwithstanding Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's reiteration that the JD(S)-BJP Government will adhere to the High Court direction on Shobha Yatra, the BJP today said the yatra would be carried at the communally-sensitive Datta Peetha cave shrine in Bababudangiri hills in Chikmagalur district from tomorrow.

Speaking to newspersons here, State BJP President Sadananda Gowda said a procession would be taken out in Chikmagalur town tomorrow and volunteers wearing Dattamala would march to the cave shrine for two days from tomorrow.

''We are determined to take out Shobha Yatra. This will not cause problem to the JD(S)-BJP Government in any way. Even I will wear Dattamala tomorrow and go to the Dattapeetha to pray,'' he said.

Shobha Yatra, taken out by Hindu outfits to this cave shrine, had been creating controversy for many years now as the sensitive place on the picturesque Bababudangiri hills housed a Hindu place of worship as well as tombs of some Muslim clerics.

Mr Gowda refused to accept that Mangalore police was not competent enough to tackle the communal riots that broke out in Dakshina Kannada district last week. ''Police managed the situation quite well. Prohibitory orders and later curfew was imposed in time and police remained alert all the time. The Government should look into the alleged acts of SIMI and take action against Ullal MLA U T Farid's son, directly involved in instigating violence.'' The BJP leader conceded that cohesion eluded the coalition partners JD(S) and BJP on some contentious issues, but posed no threat to the Government. ''All misunderstandings will be ironed out and this Government is on a strong footing,'' he said.

He said his party would contest the byelection to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency, represented by former JD(S) leader Siddaramaiah who later joined the Congress. ''BJP finished second behind Mr Siddaramaiah in the last elections. Hence, we should ideally contest the elections. We will appeal to our ally JD(S) to leave the seat to us when the election is announced.

However, the only aim of both the parties is to defeat Mr Siddaramaiah,'' he added.

UNI

Related Stories