Koppal (Karnataka), Sep 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Lingasugur-Ballari padayatra completed its fourth day on Friday after covering around 22 km from the morning's starting point to Karatagi in Koppal district.
The day's march began with Gau Puja on the occasion of Krishnashtami and witnessed the participation of BJP leaders, workers and supporters.
Addressing participants during the padayatra, Karnataka BJP President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra accused the Congress government of being "lost in the illusion of its five guarantees" while neglecting the basic needs of the poor, farmers and vulnerable sections of society.
The padayatra is being held to highlight various issues concerning the state and raise the BJP's concerns over the Congress government's policies and governance.
"While the state government focuses on publicity around the five guarantees, poor people, senior citizens and persons with disabilities are struggling to receive even basic social security benefits. Several beneficiaries have not received pensions for months," Vijayendra alleged.
During the padayatra, the State BJP President inaugurated a new paddy harvesting machine brought by a farmer and interacted with farmers on mechanisation and agricultural challenges.
Near Sindhanur, Vijayendra held an interaction with Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) traders, who raised issues related to additional charges for transfer of shops and sites, licensing, documentation, access to bank credit and high-interest loans.
He also took note of infrastructure deficiencies at the Devaraja Urs Vegetable Market, including drinking water, toilets, sanitation and parking facilities, and assured traders that their concerns would be raised in the State Assembly.
Vijayendra said rural areas of Kalyana Karnataka continue to face shortages of doctors and teachers, inadequate infrastructure and limited employment opportunities.
He called for greater investment in local industries, agro-processing units, small enterprises and skill-development centres to create jobs and reduce migration of youth to Bengaluru and other cities.
"Ground realities cannot be understood by sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Bengaluru," he said, targeting the Congress-led state government.
Vijayendra asserted that the BJP would return to power in Karnataka in 2028, promising greater priority to agriculture, irrigation, healthcare, education, employment and rural development.
"This padayatra is not merely a political programme. It is an effort to directly listen to farmers, workers, women, youth, traders and the poor and take their issues to the state government," he said.
The fourth day of the padayatra received an enthusiastic response from BJP workers and the public, with women offering Purna Kumbha welcomes and supporters showering flowers as the march entered Koppal district.
Former Deputy Chief Minister and MP Govind Karjol criticised the Congress-led state government, alleging that it had diverted Rs 52,000 crore meant for Dalits for other purposes and was now resorting to vote-bank politics.
Addressing the padayatra here, Karjol alleged that it had been established that Rs 187 crore from the Valmiki Corporation had been used by Congress leaders for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He demanded that the money be returned to the government Treasury and said the BJP's agitation would continue until this was done.
Karjol warned that the BJP's agitation would not stop until the "corrupt government" (Congress) was removed from the Karnataka Assembly.
Former MLC Hemalatha Naik accused the Congress government of doing nothing for the welfare of farmers.
She alleged that the state government had merely declared drought and remained silent without releasing drought relief funds.
She said the "anti-farmer government" had no future.
Former Minister B. Sriramulu, MLAs Mahesh Tenginakai, Krishnanayak and Halappa Achar, former MLAs Basavaraj Dadesugur and Rajugowda Shivanagowda Nayak, leaders Hemalatha Naik and Basavaraj Kavatager, Koppal District BJP President Naveen Gulagannavar, among others, participated in the padayatra.
Source: IANS
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