BELAGAVI: The concluding day of the winter session of the Legislative Assembly on Friday saw uproar in the House with BJP members staging dharna against Mines and Geology Minister Vinay Kulkarni and seeking his resignation in the case related to the murder of Yogishgouda Goudar, BJP member of Dharwad Zilla Panchayat. They also sought CBI inquiry in the case.
The controversial murder case took a new twist on Friday, with surfacing of a video and audio clip. In the video Gurunath Gouda, brother of Yogish Gouda, alleged that Kulkarni had reached out to him seeking a compromise with one of the accused in his brother’s murder. He also alleged that Kulkarni had deployed a DySP from Belagavi to broker the compromise.
The audio clip featured an alleged threat call by the minister to a lawyer representing Gouda’s family to hush up the case. Yogish Gouda had been hacked to death at his gym in Dharwad on June 15, 2016 by five assailants.As the clips were telecast on TV channels, BJP members disrupted the House repeatedly over media reports linking Kulkarni to the case. The Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die without transacting any business as a result.
Leader of the opposition Jagadish Shettar and other BJP members pressed for discussion on the issue. However, Speaker KB Koliwad insisted on considering it only after Question Hour.BJP members opposed it and trooped into the well of the house to stage dharna. Shettar also sought action against the Belagavi police officer who allegedly attempted to negotiate on behalf of the minister.
Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy defended Kulkarni and accused the BJP members of disrupting proceedings for no valid reason. The JD(S) members also joined the protest seeking discussion on House committee report on irregularities in purchase of power and demanding scrapping of the BMIC project.
Accusing the government of protecting ministers, Shettar said an FIR has been framed against one minister (referring to KJ George) while another minister (Kulkarni) was trying to intimidate the complainant. He also attacked the CM over Arkavathy Layout ‘scam’.