‘BJP Will Recover Valmiki Corporation Money If Voted to Power in 2028’: Pralhad Joshi Targets DK Shivakumar Government in Ballari
Ballari/Bengaluru: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday made the alleged Valmiki Corporation fund diversion the centrepiece of the BJP’s attack on the D.K. Shivakumar-led Karnataka government, declaring that the money would not return as long as the present government remained in office and asserting that a BJP government, if elected in 2028, would recover it from those responsible and give it to the poor.
Addressing the concluding programme organised to mark the success of the BJP’s padayatra in Ballari, Joshi launched a broad political offensive against the Congress government, linking the Valmiki Corporation issue with SCSP-TSP funds, welfare guarantees, drought response, alleged appeasement politics and corruption.
Joshi alleged that the money involved in the Valmiki Corporation case had also benefited Congress leaders in Delhi, referring to the party leadership as “mother, son and sister”. He accused the Congress of being a party associated with corruption. These were political allegations made by Joshi at the BJP programme.
He said BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra had walked on the roads for 10 days and led the padayatra to put pressure on the Congress government, arguing that money meant for poor members of the Valmiki community should reach them. He also credited R. Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy with raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council respectively, and said B. Sriramulu and Janardhan Reddy had taken the padayatra as a challenge.
Joshi also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while speaking about corruption, referring to Sonia Gandhi being out on bail and accusing the Congress of a history of scams during its years in power. He juxtaposed the Karnataka government’s completion of 100 days with Rahul Gandhi’s electoral record, making a political jibe that Gandhi was losing his “100th election”.
A significant part of Joshi’s speech was devoted to the Congress’s politics over Vande Mataram and what he described as appeasement. Referring to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the Congress had opposed the move but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proceeded with it.
Joshi referred to a programme in Kashmir where, according to him, the full Vande Mataram was recited and the Omar Abdullah government accorded it respect. He then accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and D.K. Shivakumar of cutting Vande Mataram and linked this to the partition of the country. Warning the Congress politically, he said that if such politics continued, voters in Karnataka would “cut” the party down in the next election.
He also targeted Minister Rayareddy over remarks attributed to him about Islam and Mecca, and referred to comments attributed to Revanth Reddy about the Congress and Muslims. Joshi alleged that these reflected what he described as the height of appeasement politics. He further accused the Congress of believing that voters could be bought with money.
Turning to the Karnataka government’s guarantee schemes, Joshi questioned its claims over Anna Bhagya. He alleged that the state government was not supplying rice under the scheme and said the rice reaching beneficiaries was being provided by the Narendra Modi-led Central government rather than by the D.K. Shivakumar government.
Joshi claimed that the Centre was providing rice under the Garib Kalyan programme and accused the state government of failing to provide even a grain of rice from its side. His remarks were part of the BJP’s broader attack on the implementation of the Congress government’s welfare guarantees.
He again raised the Valmiki Corporation and SCSP-TSP issues, accusing the government of misusing money meant for Scheduled Tribe and other disadvantaged communities. He alleged that funds intended for the ST community had been shared and misappropriated.
Joshi also invoked K.N. Rajanna, alleging that the government had shown no concern for Dalits when obtaining his resignation. He further accused D.K. Shivakumar of acting out of personal animosity in relation to Rajanna and the Apex Bank. He called on the government to end what he described as political hypocrisy.
The Union Minister widened his attack to other guarantee and welfare programmes. He alleged that the government had not implemented its guarantees properly and questioned the accounting of Gruha Lakshmi funds.
On the Shakti free bus travel scheme, Joshi used a political jibe that “everything except the steering is shaking” in buses. He also alleged that benefits under Sandhya Suraksha and widow pension schemes introduced during B.S. Yediyurappa’s tenure were not being paid properly.
He accused the government of not providing adequate funds to transport corporations and criticised increases in charges for birth and death certificates. Joshi also questioned why taxpayers’ money should be given to Bharat Jodo associations.
In another corruption allegation, Joshi claimed that payments had to be made to Congress leaders and ministers to obtain approvals for apartment construction. He did not provide evidence for the allegation in the material shared.
Joshi called for the Congress government to be removed and replaced with what he described as a strong government, and appealed to people to join the BJP in ending political corruption.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi completing 25 years in public life, Joshi again took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying Gandhi had been losing during that period.
The Union Minister also sought to connect the BJP’s padayatra with the drought situation. He said BJP leaders had walked through sun and rain while the Chief Minister conducted a drought inspection by helicopter. He claimed that the government began releasing lists of drought-hit taluks one after another only after the BJP’s agitation.
Joshi declared that the BJP’s agitation would continue, saying the party would fight until the government was removed and its “arrogance” defeated. He also predicted that the BJP would come to power in another southern state and said the party had resolved to give its political response from Ballari.
The strongest electoral message from the concluding event, however, centred on the Valmiki Corporation issue. By explicitly tying recovery of the allegedly diverted money to a BJP victory in 2028, Joshi sought to carry the issue beyond the 10-day padayatra and turn it into a campaign theme against the D.K. Shivakumar government ahead of the next Assembly election.
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