Police arrest BJP leaders who plan to stop Chief Minister’s convoy in Hubballi

Our right to protest has been suppressed, says Basavaraj Bommai

The Hubballi-Dharwad Police arrested a group of BJP leaders who tried to stop the Chief Minister’s convoy at Shivaji Circle in Hubballi on Sunday.

Member of Legislative Assembly Arvind Bellad and others staged a rasta roko by sitting on the road at Shivaji Circle, planning to stop the Chief Minister’s convoy that was scheduled to pass through the location.

They were planning to protest against the State Cabinet’s decision to withdraw cases related to rioting in old Hubballi.

However, a team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahaninga Nandagavi, tried to talk to them into giving up the rasta roko.

They offered to arrange a meeting with the Chief Minister to submit a memorandum. But the BJP leaders did not agree. They were arrested and released later. Some other group of BJP leaders blocked the Gokul Road for some time, in protest.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai has criticised the twin cities’ police for this action.

“Karnataka seems to have police raj. Our right to protest has been suppressed. Police officers arrested our leaders before they could protest in front the Chief Minister. This is highly condemnable,” he said.

He demanded that the decision be reversed. He said that legal action should be taken against Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni who is facing rape charge.

Mr. Bellad, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai, the former MLA Amrut Desai and others were arrested. They were all released later.

Published - October 13, 2024 07:54 pm IST