Udupi:The Udupi district unit of the Hindu Jagrana Vedike (HJV) will stage a dharna at 28 places in the district on Wednesday to protest against the move to initiate legal action against its leader Jagadish Karanth.

Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Prashanth Nayak, president of the vedike, said that Home Minister Ramlinga Reddy had directed the police to slap cases against Mr. Karanth and arrest him. This was nothing but a ploy to consolidate the Muslim vote bank for the Congress, he said.

The Police Department too was carrying out this order and treating Mr. Karanth like a hardcore criminal. This was nothing short of “government terrorism”. The protests on Wednesday would basically focus on this issue. Besides, the protest would touch upon other issues, including the increasing Muslim fundamentalism and cow slaughter in the coastal districts, he said.