Byndoor: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jana Suraksha Yatra entered Udupi district here on Monday. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi flagged off a padayatra held as part of it at Shanishvara temple.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Gandhi said many Sangh Parivar activists have been killed in the State in the past four and a half years. “Earlier, such organised political murders used to take place in Kerala. Now, such political murders are taking place in Karnataka,” she said.

She said the State government has failed to provide protection to people, and women and children are not safe anywhere in Karnataka. “When our government comes to power in the State, we will ensure protection for all.”

She said she recently visited Belagavi. Cows from Maharashtra and Goa were being brought to Belagavi and slaughtered, and some politicians and policemen were involved in this. “Hence, I have sought a CBI probe into this,” she said.

Shobha Karandlaje, MP, criticised the State government for dragging its feet on the Bababudangiri Datta Peetha issue. She said the government should appoint priests to the Datta Peetha or the BJP would launch an agitation.

Later, speaking at a public meeting at Uppunda, where the padayatra culminated, K.S. Eshwarappa, senior BJP leader, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had started Tipu Jayanti celebrations in the State only to appease the Muslim community and get its votes.

“Just because the Lingayat community is backing former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Mr. Siddaramaiah and the Congress came up with the idea of dividing the Lingayat community into Lingayats and Veerashaivas. Various theories are being floated to justify this division. This is being done so that the Congress gets some Lingayat votes,” he said.

“The Siddaramaiah government is playing both communal and caste politics. But it will be wiped out in Karnataka in the forthcoming Assembly elections, just as it happened in Tripura,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.

Kamalakar Mesta, father of Paresh Mesta who died under suspicious circumstances in Honnavar, said it has been three months since his son died but he has not got justice.