• BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra detained near Kengeri; hundreds of BJP workers taken into custody in Mysuru
• Protests hamper smooth traffic movement from Ramaswamy Circle, D. Devaraj Urs Road and JLB Road

Mysuru/ Bengaluru: High drama unfolded in the city this morning as BJP and Congress party workers staged protests and counter-protests at different venues over the controversy surrounding the scam at the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), turning the spotlight on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whose wife, Parvathi, was allotted 14 sites by MUDA under the 50:50 scheme.

BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra had called for a massive protest to lay siege to the MUDA office on JLB Road after a rally from Maharaja’s College Grounds. However, he faced Police action on his way to Mysuru from Bengaluru.

Calls for CM’s resignation

Police intercepted the vehicles of Vijayendra and several party leaders near Kengeri on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway in the morning. Despite Vijayendra and his followers resisting and trying to prevent the Police from detaining them, the Police eventually succeeded amid heavy sloganeering by party workers. Vijayendra and others were later taken away in a Police bus.

Before his detention, Vijayendra accused the Congress-led state government of oppression and vowed that BJP workers from across the State would continue their protests. He demanded that sites be allocated to the poor, illegally distributed sites be withdrawn, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe the scam, and CM Siddaramaiah resign from his post.

In Mysuru, party workers led by City BJP President L. Nagendra, Rural President L.R. Mahadeva Swamy, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa, former Ministers N. Mahesh and K.C. Narayan Gowda, Chamarajanagar BJP President and former MLA C.S. Niranjan Kumar, and defeated BJP Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha candidate S. Balaraj, among others, were also detained by the police. They were taken in four to five KSRTC buses to the City Armed Reserve (CAR) Police Grounds behind Mysore Race Club.

Rain disrupts protests

Following sudden rainfall, BJP agitators attempted to run towards MUDA through the alley behind the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) building but were stopped by alert Police under the instructions of City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar.

Earlier, BJP workers had been restricted to K.R. Boulevard in front of Maharaja’s College Grounds by the police for over three hours. The party workers, who had gathered in large numbers, had planned to take out a rally with an open vehicle to MUDA from Maharaja’s Grounds.

However, police had barricaded the road near ORI and Ursu Mandali School on either side, thwarting any attempts to reach MUDA. The BJP protesters, who squatted in the middle of the road, held placards and raised slogans demanding that the investigation into the MUDA scam be handed over to the CBI, claiming the sites allotted to the CM’s wife were illegal.

They chanted slogans in Kannada which roughly translated to English: “14 sites for CM Siddaramaiah’s wife, empty spoon to poor women,” “Valmiki Corporation money went to Rahul Gandhi’s pockets”, “Congress is main accused in Rs. 4,000 crore MUDA scam.”

Congress protests near MUDA

Countering the BJP protests, Congress workers demonstrated in support of CM Siddaramaiah near the MUDA office. They erected a shamiana on the footpath of the Institution of Engineers India (IEI) Mysuru local chapter, adjacent to the MUDA office building, for their sit-in protest.

Prominent party leaders present included former MLA M.K. Somashekar, City Congress President R. Murthy, Rural Congress Committee President Dr. B.J. Vijaykumar, KPCC Spokesperson M. Lakshmana, and Women’s KPCC President Dr. Pushpa Amarnath. The Police had also put up barricades on either side of the road to prevent the protesters from breaking through the restricted area.

Public Impact

Amid all this, it was the common people who bore the brunt, with JLB Road and its surrounding roads partially barricaded, restricting easy access for traffic movement from Ramaswamy Circle, D. Devaraj Urs Road, and other junctions.