The ‘Dharmasthala chalo’ rally, led by senior BJP leader and MLA for Yelahanka S.R. Vishwanath, reached the temple town from Nelamangala on Saturday.

The rally had been taken out to oppose ‘smear campaign’ and ‘slander’ against Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple and its administration in the backdrop of the ongoing SIT investigation into the alleged burial of bodies in Dharmasthala village more than a decade ago.

The rally reached here ahead of BJP State unit president B.Y. Vijayendra’s scheduled visit to the temple on Sunday. Many BJP MLAs and some MPs are expected to join Mr. Vijayendra during his visit.

Mr. Vishwanath led a convoy of about 400 vehicles carrying his supporters. The convoy, which left Nelamangala on Saturday morning, reached Dharmasthala at around 3 p.m.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Vishwanath said the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the allegation, cannot go on excavating new places shown by the complainant and malign the sanctity of Dharmasthala. Some people, including YouTubers, were using the case to defame Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, other MLAs, and Pattadhikari of Kshetra Dharmasthala D. Veerendra Heggade, he said.

The SIT probe was being used to target the reputation of the temple and Mr. Heggade. After submitting the preliminary report to the government, the SIT should do a thorough inquiry of the complainant and find out those who were behind him in this “sinister campaign”. The SIT should probe into the funding behind the campaign, he said.

No excavation done on Saturday

Meanwhile, the SIT did not excavate any alleged burial sites on Saturday. The complainant was questioned at the SIT office in Belthangady. A few witnesses, who have claimed of seeing the complainant burying the bodies, were also questioned, the SIT sources said.

So far, the SIT has excavated 17 sites, many of them were in and around the Snana Ghatta (bathing ghat), near Dharmasthala. A plain site near the vented dam at Snana Ghatta, a site off the road leading to Bahubali Betta, and a revenue site near Dwarakashrama in Kanyadi were the other sites that were excavated.