Bantwal: BJP begins padayatra to villages highlighting Congress govt's failures

Mounesh Vishwakarma
Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (EP)

Bantwal, Jan 15: A BJP padayatra aiming at reaching out to people in villages was flagged off on Tuesday January 14 evening at Rajarajeshwari temple premises at Polali here. The padayatra is being led by party leader Rajesh Nayak.

The march scheduled to last for thirteen days was inaugurated by Dakshina Kannada BJP president Pratapsimha Nayak by handing over the party flag to Rajesh Nayak.

Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP who spoke on the occasion highlighted the failures of Congress governments at the center and in the state. 

He said that the government has ignored great freedom fighters such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and criticized that the party has only been praising the Gandhi family.

He said the state government led by Siddaramaiah has been a failure and the government has not released grant for development works ever since it came to power.  "The government has supported corruption by admitting D K Shivakumar and Roshan Baig into the cabinet. Incidents of violence are occurring in the state under the Congress rule and the law and order machinery has deteriorated," he said.

"The union home minister has come forward to look after the welfare of terrorists in an attempt to protect minorities. The union government has failed to control inflation, Naxal menace and terrorism. It is shameful to see our Prime Minister remain silent even after Pakistan soldiers beheaded our soldiers," he said.  

District BJP president Pratapsimha Nayak said the rally will go from house to house explaining the failures of the present state and central governments and stress on the need to rebuild the country.

Rajesh Nayak who delivered the keynote address stressed that Narendra Modi should be the next Prime Minister and said the rally will go to 59 villages to build the party at the grassroots level. He called upon the activists not to rest till the elections.

Capt Ganesh Karnik, Kotal Srinivas Poojary, former MLA Yogish Bhat, Padmanabha Kottari, BJP state vice president Sulochana Bhat, Kshetra BJP committee president G Ananda, Chief secretary Ramadasa, Devappa Poojary, Tungappa Bangera, Yuva Morcha secretary Vikas Puttur, APMC president Nemiraja Rai, Dinesh Bhandary, Jagadish Adhikari, zilla panchayat member Nalini, taluk panchayat vice-president Ananda Shamboor and others were present.

A special prayer was offered to Sri Rajarajeshwari Devi prior to the programme.  The first day's walk covered a distance of nine kilometers and concluded with a meeting of the activists at Kambala fields at Kollattamajalu of Badagabellur. Programme convener Devadas Shetty welcomed and thanked the gathering.

As collection of iron for the 182-ft statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to be installed in Gujarat is on, Vasudeva Bhat, a farmer from Polali handed over an iron part of a plough to Dr Bharat Shetty and MP Nalin Kumar on the occasion.