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Alert cops take the fizz out of BJP's protest

Party leaders detained before they could storm BBMP office
Last Updated 03 May 2016, 20:47 IST

The BJP’s much-hyped march against property tax hike on Tuesday was halted even before the protesters could reach the BBMP head office and besiege Mayor B N Manjunatha Reddy or any official as they intended to.

Just before the march was to start at the Kanteerava Stadium in the afternoon, the police intercepted BJP leaders who happily courted arrest. The police took them all to the City Armed Reserve (CAR) parade ground in Adugodi and released them in 10 minutes.

The police, the Bengaluru Urban district administration and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had made elaborate arrangements to avert the showdown.

Besides deploying additional forces inside the head office and erecting barricades at different points, the police posted pickets at the entrance. Around 20 BMTC buses were stationed at the Kanteerava Stadium to transport the detained protesters.

Kasturba Road near the Corporation Circle was fully barricaded, badly affecting the movement of buses bound for Chittoor and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. BMTC buses bound for Mayo Hall, HAL, KR Puram and Ulsoor were also affected. The arrangements proved far-fetched as the picketing did not happen.

A BJP leader said 40 leaders, including former chief minister Yeddyurappa and former ministers R Ashoka and S Suresh Kumar, had courted arrest. There was, however, a good turnout at the Kanteerava Stadium where a public meeting was organised in the morning. Addressing the gathering, Yeddyurappa said the protest was not restricted to property tax but was also against the increase in prices of milk, transport, electricity and borewell surcharge.

‘Symbolic strike’

“This is a symbolic strike against the misrule in the state. Today people are forced to walk by covering their noses because of the poor solid waste management,” Yeddyurappa said, claiming that when the BJP was in power, people were “never burdened like this.” Yeddyurappa, who is president of the BJP’s Karnataka unit, also criticised the Congress government for “punishing” honest officers.

“There is no place for honest officers in the present government. K Mathai was transferred for speaking the truth. Siddaramaiah is protecting the corrupt and punishing the honest officers.”

Interestingly, the BJP had also targeted Mathai when it was in power in the BBMP council.
He said Siddaramaiah “woke up” to realise the gravity of drought in the state only after the BJP’s 11 teams toured the affected areas.

‘Will come back to power’

Yeddyurappa predicted that the BJP would come back to power in 2018 and win 23-25 Assembly seats in Bengaluru alone. The rally was also addressed by former deputy chief minister R Ashoka, Rajajinagar MLA S Suresh Kumar, MLC Somanna and opposition leader in the BBMP Council, Padmanabha Reddy.

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(Published 03 May 2016, 20:47 IST)

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