The monthly council meeting of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday descended into chaos after leaders from the BJP and the Congress came to blows. A few councillors suffered minor injuries in the melee.
The protest began towards the end of the morning session when Opposition leader Padmanabha Reddy asked Yeshwantpur ward councillor G.K. Venkatesh to release a CD, which the latter claimed had information on irregularities conducted under the BJP’s watch. When no CD materialised, the BJP councillors moved to the well of the house demanding Mr. Venkatesh’s suspension.
After lunch, insults and slogans were traded as leaders from the Congress too ran to the well. “Councillors, the people of Bengaluru are watching,” Mayor Padmavathi implored, but her request fell on deaf ears. The session was adjourned for 15 minutes but when the situation worsened, the mayor called for an end to the day’s proceedings. In the melee, Mr. Reddy was pushed and nearly fell.
Congress leaders later staged a protest outside the BBMP administrative building against what they termed was “rowdy-like” behaviour of the BJP leaders. Four Congress councillors picked up minor injuries in the scuffle, including a woman councillor who was taken to hospital after her foot was injured.
Mr. Venkatesh said he would release the CD as per the instructions of the party’s central leadership. “I will do it in the proper way, not in a council meeting,” he said, claiming that he had information on land in J.P. Park being encroached.
However, not everyone was sympathetic to the happenings of the day. “It’s just a stunt, nothing else. They are all friends,” said a citizen who had come to watch the meeting.
