Vokkaliga seer: If govt falls, there'll be consequences

Bengaluru: Reacting sharply to recent reports about attempts to destabilise the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in the state, seer of the Gurugunda Brahmeshwar Mutt, Nanjavadhutha swamiji warned on Wednesday that they would attract a backlash from the Vokkaliga community.

Speaking at the 504th Kempe Gowda Jayanthi here in the presence of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who , however, made no reference to the ongoing turbulence in the government, the seer recalled the community’s reaction to Mr D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP being unceremoniously removed as Chief Minister.

“One should remember how the community reacted at the time and the number of seats that the party (BJP) lost in the election that followed. The community will react in the same way if there are attempts to topple Mr Kumaraswamy and this time the repercussions will be felt at the national level as well,” he warned.

Also, taking a dig at the Modi government, the swamiji claimed it had copied the training programmes introduced by Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru for people from all walks of life to come up with its own skill development schemes. As for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” slogan, he said 500 years ago Kempe Gowda had built a city which produced everything it needed.

Not sparing the Siddaramaiah government either, he said with sarcasm that it had “re-built” a fort that did not exist saying it belonged to the times of Kanakadasa while neglecting four existing forts of Kempe Gowda. The seer suggested they should be restored and a one day tourist circuit introduced covering all four.

Mr Kumaraswamy steered clear of the state’s politics in his speech except to express his anger at media reports suggesting North Karnataka was not properly represented in his government. He asserted it did not represent any particular region but worked for the entire state.

“While more than 60 to 65 per cent of the state's revenue comes from Bengaluru city, this money is used for almost all the irrigation and other development projects around Karnataka,” he noted.

The Chief Minister who revealed plans to establish a skill development university in the name of Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, however, refused to commit to anything on the demand for celebrating Kempe Gowda Jayanthi on the lines of Dasara and building a Kempe Gowda Tower in Bengaluru.