Nayakara Yuva Sene condemns Rajanna’s dismissal from Cabinet

Members of the Karnataka Rajya Nayakara Yuva Sene staged a protest in the city on Monday, condemning the dismissal of senior Congress leader K.N. Rajanna, who was serving as the Cooperation Minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet.

The protesters alleged a “conspiracy” behind Mr. Rajanna’s removal, describing him as a strong voice of the Scheduled Tribe community. They blamed the Congress high command for sacking him without citing reasons or even seeking clarification. According to them, vested interests within the party were responsible for engineering his ouster.

In a press release here, they claimed that individuals who had opposed reservation in the corporation sector had plotted to get Mr. Rajanna removed through the high command. The move, they alleged, was aimed at politically sidelining a prominent leader of the Valmiki community.

The protesters also referred to the case of B. Nagendra, who was forced to resign from the Cabinet earlier in connection with the Valmiki Corporation scam.

The agitators charged that there was a deliberate attempt within the party to suppress leaders from the Valmiki community.

They warned that if Mr. Rajanna was not reinstated, and the injustice to the Valmiki community was not rectified, they would ensure a “fitting lesson” was taught to the party in the next elections.