The Mysuru City Police has denied permission to the BJP’s Yuva Morcha from taking out a bike rally from the City on Wednesday as part of its Mangaluru Chalo agitation.
Mysuru City Police Commissioner A. Subramanyeshwara Rao said he had invoked the provisions under Section 34 and 35 of Karnataka Police Act 1963 to prevent the bike rally, which he termed as a threat to “public order.”
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed for 48 hours from 6 a.m. on Wednesday in the City Police limits, Mr. Rao said while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.
On receipt of a communication from the office bearers of BJP’s Yuva Morcha on August 30 to take out a bike rally comprising more than 1,000 people from the City on September 6, the City police issued a show cause notice to the Morcha representatives seeking to know why the rally should not be banned as it would not only disturb smooth traffic movement, but also pose inconvenience to the general public, particularly the old and school going children and essential services including ambulances.
“We received their reply on late on Tuesday, but we found it unsatisfactory,” Mr. Rao said. The police feared that the rally poses a threat to communal peace not only in Mysuru, but also in the towns along the route of the rally.
According to the BJP Yuva Morcha leaders, the motorcyclists were to gather at Kote Anjaneyaswamy Temple in front of Mysuru Palace on Wednesday morning and set out for Mangaluru through Hunsur Road. The rally was scheduled to pass through Hunsur and Kodagu before reaching Dakshina Kannada and Mangaluru.
The rally was to pass through several communally sensitive areas in its 340-km long journey, posing a threat to law and order situation, the police said while denying them permission.
“In its response to the show cause notice, the BJP Yuva Morcha leaders took no responsibility for the trouble that was likely to arise or gave any convincing explanation. Also, we have not allowed bike rallies earlier and do not wish to open a Pandora’s box by giving them permission and setting a precedent for future bike rallies,” Mr. Rao added.
To a question, he said the decision to deny permission for the rally was taken on the basis of “local inputs.”
