BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former minister Munirathna on Wednesday staged a silent protest holding a placard accusing Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru city incharge D.K. Shivakumar and Bengaluru Lok Sabha member D.K. Suresh of their handiwork in alleged diversion of funds meant for his Rajarajeshwari Assembly seat in Bengaluru city.
Munirathna alleged that funds to a tune of Rs 126 crore has been diverted and distributed among three Assembly seats-Pulikeshi Nagar Assembly seat, Byatarayanapura Assembly and Yeshwanthpur Assembly seat all in Bengaluru and each of these seats have been allotted Rs 40 crore.
Pulikeshi Nagar Assembly seat and Byatarayanapura Assembly seats are represented by Congress legislators and the Yeshwanthpur Assembly seat is represented by BJP MLA S.T. Somashekar.
He told reporters at the protest site near Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha that the previous Basavaraj Bommai had released Rs 126 crore to de-silt Hosakerehalli Lake falling under ward 160 of his assembly seat. The Hosakerehalli Lake has not been de-silted for close to 200 years. Besides, the funds were also meant to take-up development of lake vicinity and turn it into a garden and for laying of a road adjacent to the Hosakerehalli Lake as well.
The BJP MLA also stated that road-widening works in his seat has come to a halt for which Government Order has been issued and Munirathna wanted the State Government to return back the funds allotted to his Assembly seat.
In the silent protest, Munirathna was accompanied by MLC Chalavadi Narayanswamy among others. Later, former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa visited the protest site and asked Munirathna to withdraw the protest.
