BJP MLA stages protest against party govt in Karnataka

PTI, Aug 12, 2021, 3:05 PM IST

Bengaluru:  Ruling BJP MLA from Mudigere M P Kumaraswamy on Thursday staged a protest accusing his own party’s government in Karnataka of neglecting his constituency that has been ravaged by torrential rains, floods and landslides over the past few years.

He staged a protest alone, with a placard, in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the state legislature and secretariat here. “In 2019 we had heavy rains and about six people have washed away along with their houses and it took fifteen days to search for their bodies, several houses and coffee plantations were destroyed due to landslides, we asked for compensation, we were completely neglected, we remained quiet,” Kumaraswamy said.

Noting that the situation continued last year and this year too, he said, “I did not want to question why other constituencies are being considered and we were not, but one name I will take- Shivamogga city- was considered for relief under NDRF norms, but Mudigere which is a hilly area that comes amid western Ghats and receives heavy rains, was left out.”

Pointing out that in 2018 when H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) was the Chief Minister, he had given grants and had promised to help in other ways, following his appeal on the social media not to neglect Mudigere constituency, the MLA said, but now despite our own party being in power we are neglected every year. “My constituency is facing a tough situation, we are facing floods every year, we have requested it to be declared as rain and flood prone area. There are seven to eight panchayats here that come under Western Ghats region, but the government is not declaring it rain and flood prone.

They are completely neglecting us,” he added. The protest by MLA against his own party government is being seen as an example for simmering discontent within the ruling BJP, after the recent cabinet formation exercise by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. M P Kumaraswamy was also a Ministerial aspirant and had openly expressed his desire to be part of the cabinet.