Even as the Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti president G. Made Gowda has been garnering support for the Cauvery agitation across the State, several Congress leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah and H. Vishwanath, MP, and their supporters from Mysore were humiliated and sent back to Mysore from here on Thursday.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Vishwanath, the former Ministers H.S. Mahadeva Prasad, H.C. Mahadevappa and others, along with nearly 300 supporters from Mysore, took out a bike and car rally to Mandya to express their solidarity to the samiti.
They ended the vehicle rally on the outskirts of the city in order to arrive by ‘padayatra’ to the protest venue.
Soon after Mr. Siddaramaiah and others sat on stage, nearly 200 persons, suspected to be members of a political party, raised slogans against the Congress and urged them to leave the dais.
The mob hurled abuses at them. They did not listen to Mr. Made Gowda who tried to pacify the protesters.
Lathi-charge
The protesters were against politicians sharing the dais with Mr. Made Gowda for a Cauvery agitation. However, the former Minister M.S. Atmananda and others were sitting next to Mr. Gowda.
Chaos prevailed for nearly one hour. The police, sensing that the situation was getting out of hand, used their batons to clear the mob. Later, the leaders left for Mysore under police escort.
‘Pre-planned’
The samiti leaders termed the attack on Congress leaders and their supporters from Mysore as ‘pre-planned’. “Even Mr. Made Gowda is a politician. It was an unfortunate incident,” Mr. Atmananda , who is the Mandya District Congress Committee president, told The Hindu in Mandya on Thursday.
