Congress defers Kodagu march; permission denied for BJP event

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the Congress has postponed its August 26 march in Kodagu to protest eggs being thrown at his car.

The Kodagu protest stands postponed in the wake of prohibitory orders clamped down by the district administration, Siddaramaiah said.

The Kodagu district administration has clamped prohibitory orders between 6 am on August 24 and 6 pm on August 27, denying permission to the Congress’ protest and BJP’s ‘Jana Jagruthi Samavesha’ - both scheduled on August 26.

“We can oppose prohibitory orders and go ahead, but as leader of the Opposition and a former chief minister, I don’t want to violate the law. The party also doesn’t want to violate the law,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that the party will take a decision on holding the protest later. On August 18, eggs were hurled at Siddaramaiah’s car when he visited Kodagu to visit flood-hit areas. This prompted Siddaramaiah to announce a massive protest on August 26.

“Our protest wasn’t against the people of Kodagu, who are good. It was against the government and police inaction. It was pro-people, pro-poor and pro-farmers. To counter our protest and out of hatred, the BJP announced a Jana Jagruti meeting on August 26,” Siddaramaiah pointed out.

Siddaramaiah said BJP MLA K G Bopaiah had dared Siddaramaiah to come to Kodagu. “Are we in free India or not? When the Reddy brothers threw the same challenge at me, I took out a foot march to Ballari against illegal mining,” he said.

The former chief minister also denied claims by egg-hurler Sampath, who identified himself as a Congress worker. “Why was he seen at an RSS camp? What are Sampath’s links with BJP MLA Appacchu Ranjan?” he said, adding that the protest he faced was ‘government-sponsored’.