Tight security leads to poor turnout at Tipu Jayanti

Tight security arrangements were made for Tipu Jayanti at the Banquet hall of Vidhana Soudha on Thursday.

To check untoward incidents, invitees were made to undergo multiple security checks.

Only those with invitation cards for the event and media accreditation cards were allowed inside the Banquet hall. So much so that two journalists wearing black T-shirt were asked to disclose their identity by the police, who thought that the two men in black might stage a protest at the event. The journalists were allowed to enter the Banquet hall only after they disclosed their identity.

With tight security in place, the event witnessed a poor turnout.

The BJP and a section of people from Kodagu had been vehemently opposing the government’s decision to organise Tipu Jayanti. The BJP had threatened to stage a protest at the Vidhana Soudha, opposing the fete.

Though the government had invited the Opposition leaders in both the Houses of the legislature, Jagadish Shettar and K S Eshwarappa and Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan (all from the BJP), none of them attended the event. Even the Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankarmurthy was absent.

Congress leader C M Ibrahim attended the event, surprising many in the political circles. Ibrahim, vice-chairman of State Planning Board, had recently criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and praised the JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda.

A section of Congress leaders had been demanding that the party should take action against him. Though Ibrahim, once a close confidant of Siddaramaiah shared the dais with the chief minister, the two did not even exchange greetings.