On the first day of the 16 th Legislative Assembly session on May 22, a few Congress workers performed purification rituals by sprinkling cow urine on the premises of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the government of Karnataka.
The workers said they performed the pooja to remove the ‘40% sarkara’ tag attached to the State when the BJP was in charge of the government. One of the Congress workers said the rituals symbolised washing away the ‘corrupt BJP government’ from Vidhana Soudha.
Workers of the Congress were seen, along with a priest, performing rituals with cow urine in front of Vidhana Soudha before the commencement of the three-day session of the new Assembly, in a show of cleansing the State secretariat.
Accusing ‘the BJP of polluting Karnataka and Vidhana Soudha with corruption’, the Congress party had promised to purify Vidhana Soudha with cow urine after coming to power, said a party worker. No minister or Congress MLA attended the programme.
A BJP worker termed the act as a ‘cheap antic’ by Congress workers.
In January 2023, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said that he will clean the Vidhana Soudha with dettol and cow urine, asking the ruling BJP to ‘pack up’.
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai dared the Congress government to order a probe into the allegations of corruption against the previous BJP government.
Mr. Shivakumar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister on May 20, along with Siddaramaiah who was sworn in as Chief Minister. Both took the oath as members of the Legislative Assembly on May 22.