Congress workers staged a demonstration in the city on Friday condemning the Kodagu incident where former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was pelted with eggs.
Mr. Siddaramaiah had visited a few flood-affected areas in Kodagu and was greeted by BJP Yuva Morcha activists with black flags while eggs were also thrown at his vehicle on Thursday.
Party workers assembled at the Gandhi Square for a demonstration and raised slogans against the government. Earlier, KPCC working president R. Dhruvanarayan told media persons that the Kodagu incident underlined the failure of the Home Ministry and the BJP government. “’Black flag demonstrations have taken place at five places, during Mr. Siddaramaiah’s visit, and it underlines the failure of the police and the intelligence,’, said Mr. Dhruvanarayan.
He called for the resignation of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, saying that in case he did not, the Governor should sack him. ‘’The government’s intelligence machinery was caught off guard, underlining intelligence failure. In case the police were aware and yet did nothing to prevent such incidents, it proves the fovernment involvement,” said Mr. Dhruvanarayan.
He said the Congress would organise a ‘’Madikeri Chalo’’ on August 26th to lay siege to the office of the Superintendent of Police and party workers from all over the region would take part in it.
Expressing indignation over the Kodagu incident, Mr. Dhruvanarayan said it was a district with a culture to produce soldiers who defend the country. But the BJP had vitiated the culture to such an extent that the local youngsters were turning into ruffians, he added.
‘’That a cowardly act was allowed to take place in the land of soldiers is a blemish on the culture of Kodagu and the BJP is responsible for it,” Mr. Dhruvanarayan added.
Reiterating that there was no government and governance in the State under the BJP, the KPCC working president said Karnataka had slid to the last place on development parameters but was number one in the country in corruption. It was to conceal its failure that the BJP was stoking communalism to divert public attention, he added.
‘’It is not the Opposition which is saying it but some of the ruling BJP MLAs have also said it in the open,” Mr. Dhruvanarayan added.
The Congress leader said the State was known to be a land of peace but under the BJP the law and order situation had deteriorated. The Home Minister was unable to control law and order in his own home district of Shivamogga which had reported a series of communal incidents. So how can he control the State,” quipped Mr. Dhruvanarayan.
Yathindra Siddaramaiah, MLA for Varuna, said people resorted to violence when they were unable to engage at an intellectual or ideological level and the BJP had shown its intellectual bankruptcy by resorting to violence.
