Mangaluru, Jun 27: The Dakshina Kannada district unit of BJP staged a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Saturday, demanding resignation of Minor Irrigation Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi in connection with the Yellalinga murder case.
The activists shouted slogans against Tangadagi and demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah drop him from the Cabinet.
Yellalinga Kuruba, a PU student from Kanakapura village in Kanakagiri assembly constituency in Koppal district, was brutally murdered after he exposed alleged large-scale lapses in implementation of NREG works in a gram panchayat. His body was found on railway tracks on the outskirts of Koppal in January 2015. According to BJP leaders, he is alleged to have been murdered by supporters of Tangadagi, who is also the Koppal district minister.
BJP leaders had organised a fortnight-long campaign called 'Tangadagi Hatao, Koppal Bachao' from June 15 to June 29, seeking the minister's resignation. They have decided to intensify the campaign with a three-day agitation in Koppal starting from June 26 and have launched a state-wide protest in various districts of the state on Saturday.
The demonstrators also shouted slogans against Congress minister Qamarul Islam alleging illegal possession of land belonging to the Wakf Board and criticised CM Siddaramaiah for trying to shield corrupt ministers in his Cabinet.
Addressing the demonstration, Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that Siddaramaiah had gone soft on criminals in the state which had led to the rampant illegal transportation of cattle in several parts of Karnataka. In the two years of Congress governance in the state, Siddaramaiah has tried to shield several members of his Cabinet including home minister K J George whenever allegations had been raised against them. He has also failed to protect the interests of his own community. This is ample proof that he has become inefficient and unfit to continue as the chief minister, he said, demanding the resignation of Siddaramaiah along with that of Shivaraj Tangadagi for trying to protect the accused in Yellalinga murder case.
Several BJP leaders such as district unit president Pratap Simha Nayak, former MLA Yogish Bhat, former MLC K Monappa Bhandary, Padmanabha Kottary, members of the Mahila Morcha and several others were present during the demonstration.
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