Ravi Krishna Reddy, a prominent leader of Lancha Mukta Karnataka Vedike, on Friday said the district has earned notoriety by becoming a haven for gambling.

He was addressing the like-minded workers of the organisation upon the arrival of  ‘Jana Paryaya Kattona Jatha,’ an amalgamation of 24 organisations, to get rid of venality in the society at Azad park here. Reddy said that while the local leaders have communal face, one of the prominent netas of the district who is enjoying fruits of power now, had once even decided to quit the party for another, seven to eight years ago.

Without taking the name of local MLA C T Ravi, Reddy said that the same leader as a minister then could not speedily implement any work. While his house was built in no time, the works on gram panchayat building went on a snail’s pace.

Launching a tirade against politicians in general, Reddy said, “Forget people’s welfare, their ulimate goal is climbing ladder of power. Hence, the people are in a dilemma. It is the reason why the jatha is being taken out to create awareness among the people about honest among the lot.”

The jatha has completed five days and is apolitical. The only aim is to create awareness against selfish politics of all the three prominent parties Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (Secular), said Reddy.

Mallige from Karnataka Janashakti Sangha said, “The jatha is parallel to a political movement, as no government or parties are able to bring in any changes in the society. It is only due to student movements, there are some visible changes in the society. It is wrong to expect any pro-people work from the parties as there is no such examples in the past, where the parties have worked in sync with people’s demand for a particular policy.”

The jatha, flagged off in Mandya, entered the district through Tumakuru. A rally was taken out from taluk office, passing through Hanumanthappa circle and MG Road upon its arrival in the city.

Leaders of various organisations Chandrashekar Meti, Ghouse Mohiuddin, Manjunath Gowda, K T Ramaswamy, K P Rajaratnam and others were present.