Eshwarappa demands judicial inquiry into Kalladka incident

Alleging that riots in Kalladka have been deliberately flared up by the Congressmen, senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa has demanded a judicial inquiry into the case.

Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said that the intention of the Congress party to hold a communal harmony meet in Kalladka was to create havoc in the region. The meeting verbally attacked the RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat and the members of Congress indulged into hooliganism, pelting stones and bottles to aggravate the situation deliberately, even after knowing that Kalladka is a sensitive area.

All this has happened in the presence of the District-in-Charge Minister B Ramanath Rai. The police department has failed to maintain law and order and ended up in detaining innocent people, he alleged.

He urged to conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident, adding that the inquiry committee should be headed by High Court judge. He meanwhile requested the Election Commission to initiate stern action against the violators of code of conduct.

Eshwarappa said he was not protecting anyone. Let the inquiry be carried out on Kalladka Prabhakara Bhat also, to reveal the truth, he said. Eshwarappa said that he, along with senior party leaders visited the houses of the innocent people, who have been arrested by the police. In contradictory, the real culprits who were arrested by the police were released within half an hour of the arrest and the police who arrested them, were transferred, he said.

The family members of the four innocent people are undergoing mental turmoil, he said and added that Congress is up to play with the lives of common people, in the name of politics. The district in-charge minister should resign, owing to the inefficiency to maintain law and order.

The police department, having worked under political pressure has invoked section 307. This has raised questions on the transparency of the department, he said.

Answering to a query, he said that the state government has to take the right decision on Yetthinahole project. There should be a proper enquiry in this regard, he said. Speaking on the developments in the party, he said that former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has unconditionally agreed to work for the party and is an integral part of BJP now. Regarding the KJP, Eshwarappa said that the issues in the party should be sorted out within the party.

He said the Election Committee of Bharatiya Janata Party will meet in Bangalore on Wednesday regarding the selection of candidature for the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the state and the final list will be announced in Delhi on Thursday.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik, DK district BJP Unit President Prathap Simha Nayak, former MLA Nagaraj Shetty and others were present.