BJP to hold statewide stir on Nov 27 demanding ouster of minister Vinay Kulkarni

The BJP will stage massive protests in all the district headquarters, demanding the ouster of Mines and Geology Minister Vinay Kulkarni from the Siddaramaiah cabinet on November 27.

The saffron party, which has charged Kulkarni's direct involvement in the murder of the Dharwad zilla panchayat member and its leader Yogesh Goudar, has decided to take its demand for his resignation to a logical conclusion.

The decision was taken during the party core committee meeting where Karnataka election in-charge Piyush Goyal and party general secretary Muralidhar Rao impressed upon the state leaders to chalk effective strategies and ensure the removal of both Kulkarni and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George from the cabinet.

Addressing the media in Bengaluru, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa demanded a CBI probe into Goudar's murder. Stating that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence against Kulkarni, he demanded that the minister's mobile phone be confiscated for forensic analysis.

He also demanded the government suspend DySP Tulajappa Sulfi, who is facing charges of exerting pressure on Goudar's family to withdraw the case against the murder accused.

Yeddyurappa said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had maintained a convenient silence on the charges against Kulkarni, but had strongly defended his other ministerial colleague George, who is facing charges in the death of DySP M K Ganapathi.

Party conventions

The BJP will be organising three conventions in Bengaluru on December 10 and 17, and January 7, ahead of its massive rally on January 28, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Central leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are scheduled to participate in the precursor rallies.

The party has, so far, completed its Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivartan Yatra in six districts covering 50 constituencies. On December 21, the party will host a convention in Hubballi where Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is said to participate.