BBMP poll scene marred by clashes; parties trade charges

Even as the countdown began for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) election on Saturday, supporters of political parties clashed in different parts of the City on Wednesday night.

The clashing workers accused each other of poll malpractice by luring voters with freebies and money. 

The husband and brother of Latha Ramesh, JD(S) candidate of Peenya Industrial Area ward, suffered severe head injuries after they were assaulted with iron rods by their political rivals. According to the police, Latha’s husband Ramesh and brother C J Gopal have been hospitalised. The police have arrested Chetan, Deve Gowda and Narasimha, said to be Congress workers.

While the accused were on a door-to-door campaign, they learnt that Ramesh and Gopal along with JD(S) workers were distributing sarees to woo the voters. The accused alerted fellow Congress workers, who rushed to the spot and confronted Ramesh and Gopal. They indulged in a heated argument during which the accused attacked the duo with iron rods and fled, the police said.

JD(S) workers shifted the victims to a nearby hospital and informed the police. In her complaint to the Rajagopalanagar police, Latha stated former corporator   Thimmananjaiah of Congress was behind the attack. On Thursday morning, JD(S) supporters staged a protest in front of Rajagopalanagar police station seeking stringent action against the attackers. Congress party workers filed a counter complaint that the JD(S) leaders were indulging in poll malpractice.
 
In another incident, BJP and Congress workers clashed on Hennur Main road. The police said that trouble broke out after BJP workers ‘found’ some Congress workers distributing sarees to voters. The police intervened and dispersed the two groups.

The Hanumanthanagar police launched combing operations follwing a complaint that the BJP candidate of Hanumanthanagar ward, Kempe Gowda, and his supporters were distributing money to voters. The search was in vain. It could be a false complaint by rival party workers, police claimed. There was tension in Chandra Layout on Thursday morning when the police searched a temple following a complaint that poll-related cash was stashed there. Local residents and BJP workers gathered in large numbers in front of the temple and questioned the police’s right to search a place of worship.