Many BJP leaders and hundreds of workers led by former Karnataka Chief Minister and State Party President BS Yeddyurappa were detained in coastal town of Mangaluru on Thursday for defying prohibitory orders by taking out a Bike rally as part of their Mangaluru Chalo agitation against alleged murders of RSS and BJP workers in the State.
Mangaluru police detained them when they were marching towards Nehru Maidan in Mangaluru defying the prohibitory orders led by Yeddyurappa for a public meeting. Hundreds of party workers gathered at Jyothi Circle in Mangaluru with placards and saffron flags chanting slogans against Congress Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Yeddyurappa addressing the gathering said “law and order situation in the State has deteriorated under the Congress Government,” “Several BJP functionaries have been killed in the State. How many more will be killed under the Congress GovernmentIJ” the State BJP chief questioned. Yeddyurappa demanded resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for failing to maintain law and order.
The party had initially planned ‘Mangaluru Chalo’ bike rally, for which the State police had denied permission.
“The permission was not granted to hold the rally as it would cause traffic problems and to maintain law and order in the city,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Hanumantharaya . “Public rallies could lead to communal tension in the region,” the police official said.
Clashes were witnessed between the BJP workers and the police as cadres tried to cross barricades put up by the police to block the rally.
Yeddyurappa also demanded a ban on the Popular Front of India and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, which are the alleged reason for attacks on BJP functionaries.
Opposition leaders in the legislative Assembly and Council Jagadish Shettar and K S Eshwarappa respectively, former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok, former Minister Aravind limbavali, lok Sabha Member Shobha Kharandlje were among other leaders and workers arrested by the police.
lok Sabha member and BJP leader Prahalad Joshi, talking to newsmen after taken into custody, alleged that Siddaramaiah was afraid of losing his chair if Bike Rally was allowed. " About 22 RSS and BJP workers were killed in the last six months in the State and the Chief Minister instead of taking action to nab the culprits was trying to snub BJP, who are trying to expose his failure in maintaining law and order," he added.