More than 2,000 BJP workers staged a protest at Freedom Park here on Wednesday demanding resignation of minister Santosh Lad.
Lad, the minister for Information and Infrastructure, is facing allegations of involvement in the mining scam.
State BJP president Pralhad Joshi alleged that the Congress was protecting Lad just as Sonia Gandhi protected her son-in-law Robert Vadra for his role in DLF land deals.
Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda said that AICC president Sonia Gandhi will ask Siddaramaiah to step down as chief minister soon after the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The police arrested the protesters as the latter attempted to march towards the chief minister’s residence. They were released later. Karnataka Youth Congress alleged that the BJP had no moral right to speak against illegal mining.
“It is ironical that R Ashoka, who faces numerous charges, is now sitting on a dharna in front of the chief minister’s residence,” Rizwan Arshad, the leader of the Youth Congress said. They threatened to sit on a dharna in front of Ashoka’s residence if the latter chooses to stage a protest in front of the chief minister’s residence.