BJP South Bengaluru To Hold Dharmasthala Yatra Today To 'Protect Dharma'

The BJP South Bengaluru district unit will undertake a pilgrimage to Dharmasthala on Monday under the theme "Dharmada Ulivige Dharma Yuddha" (A holy war to protect dharma), led by district president and Jayanagar MLA C K Ramamurthy.

According to a statement issued by the BJP South district media in-charge T S Subrahmanya, the march will begin with prayers at Sri Vinayaka Temple in Jayanagar 4th Block (near Maiyas Hotel) at 6 am.

At 7.30 am, near Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) Road close to PES University Ring Road junction, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya will flag off the convoy.

Nearly 400 vehicles with leaders and workers from Jayanagar, BTM Layout, Vijayanagar and Govindarajnagar Assembly constituencies will proceed to Dharmasthala.

After reaching Dharmasthala, they will take a 1 km walk to Lord Manjunath Swamy temple to offer prayers, meet temple 'Dharmadhikari' Veerendra Heggade and convey the BJP's "complete support to the holy shrine," the release said.

The march will also see the participation of other senior party functionaries.

A controversy erupted after a complainant claimed burying a number of bodies, including those of women with signs of sexual assault, in Dharmasthala over a period of time, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple.

The BJP had protested against targeting the temple. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had also warned of action if the complaint was false.

Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari or the custodian of the temple too had welcomed the formation of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The complainant was arrested on Saturday by the SIT formed to investigate the case, official sources said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)