Demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with Rs 187 crore tribal welfare board scam and the suicide of a board employee, the Karnataka unit of the BJP has announced that the party would stage a large-scale state-wide protest on June 28.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday at BJP headquarters in Bengaluru, former minister B. Sriramulu stated the party has decided to take up a large-scale protest in this regard in the coming days.

He said in a meeting headed by state unit BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra, it was decided to stage protests in all districts and taluk headquarters on June 28.

Sriramulu questioned: “How is it possible to transfer such a huge amount without the knowledge of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah?”

“There is suspicion about the role of Siddaramaiah in the scam. An innocent official of the board had committed suicide. He left behind a note on the misuse of Rs 187 crore,” he said.

The BJP leader claimed that the Congress government has misused Rs 25,000 crore reserved for Dalits in the last two years by diverting the funds meant to be spent on Dalits.

Bangaru Hanumanthu, president of state unit BJP S-T Morcha, said: “The Morcha will convene preliminary meetings on June 18. On June 28, we will lay siege to district commissioner’s offices all across the state. B.Y. Vijayendra has directed to carry out large scale protests. The agitation will continue until the resignation of the Chief Minister.”

The scam in the corporation came to light following the suicide of Chandrashekaran (50), who was working as an Account Superintendent in the Tribal Welfare Board.

He was allegedly pressurised to move large sums of money to various illegal accounts.

It was alleged that the funds were diverted to Hyderabad to be used by Congress for the Lok Sabha election in Telangana and other states.

The Congress, however, has denied all the allegations.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)