Maharashtra minister sneaks into Belagavi, sent back

There was high drama in Belagavi on Friday as Maharashtra Minister of State for Public Health, Medical Education, FDA and Textiles Rajendra Patil-Yadravkar who had come to the city to participate in Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti’s (MES) martyrs’ day programme was detained by the police and escorted back to the state’s borders on Friday.

MES had organised its annual martyrs’ day programme at Hutatma Circle here. The district administration and city police had asked MES leaders not to invite political leaders from Maharashtra since they could create law and order problems with their statements.

Patil-Yadravkar had managed to sneak into the city through a road which was not manned by the police and arrived at the venue in an autorickshaw. The police took him into their custody and escorted him back to the state’s borders with Maharashtra at Kognoli on the Pune-Bengaluru national highway.

MES leaders alleged that the police personnel violated protocol by taking a minister into their custody and that they roughed him up.

All vehicles entering the city were screened to prevent political leaders from the neighbouring state from attending the programme.

It is not clear whether Patil-Yadravkar landed in the city on Thursday and managed to reach venue without getting noticed by travelling by an autorickshaw.

Belagavi District Kannada Organisations Action Committee president Ashok Chandargi Patil-Yadravkar’s act of sneaking into the city was objectionable. As a minister, he should have informed the district administration about his visit.

“Maharashtra ministers coming to the city without prior information and using private vehicles was nothing new. It also indicates the agenda of the Shiv Sena-led coalition government in Maharashtra. Karnataka needs to take the development seriously. Organisers of anti-state events not giving correct information to the administration was also not new,” he said.

Act of terror: Raut

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut termed the act of the Karnataka police who detained Patil-Yadravkar, an act of terror.

In a tweet, he dared the Maharashtra BJP unit to condemn it.

He further stated that he would visit Belagavi on Saturday and said: “let’s see what happens”.

Raut, also a Rajya Sabha member, will visit Belagavi on Saturday to participate in an award presentation programme organised by Sarvajanik Vachanalaya.