The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a ‘Hanuman Chalisa Rally’ in Nagarthpet on Tuesday (March 19) afternoon over the alleged assault on a shopkeeper on Sunday.
Bengaluru police had refused permission for the rally in light of the Model Code of Conduct, sources said. All three BJP candidates from Bengaluru — Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South), P.C. Mohan (Bengaluru Central) and Shobha Karandlaje (Bengaluru North) — who led the protest, were detained by the police and shifted to CAR Ground.
Rajajinagar BJP MLA S. Suresh Kumar, who tried to stop the police and stood in front of a police vehicle, was detained as well, leading to some tense moments. Senior police officials said that around 40 BJP leaders and workers were taken into preventive custody and released later.
Several shopkeepers in Nagarthpet downed shutters for the day. Protestors raised ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and chanted Hanuman Chalisa.
BJP MPs blamed the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka for the incident, terming it ‘anti-Hindu’ and said the ruling party’s ‘appeasement politics’ had brought on this situation.
“The appeasement politics of the Siddaramaiah government has become a security risk for Hindus. It started with pro-Pakistan slogans, followed by a terror attack and now this assault,” said Ms. Karandlaje.
Congress lodges complaint with EC
On the other hand, Health and Family Welfare Minister and local Congress MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao accused the BJP of trying to spread hatred.
“The boys who attacked the shopkeeper are both Hindus and Muslims. Why will Hindus attack a Hindu shopkeeper over azaan? What makes you jump to the conclusion that it was a fight over azaan versus bhajan? Whatever the fight was all about, the people who acted wrongly should be punished,” he wrote on social media platform X.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India against Bengaluru (South) MP Tejasvi Surya. The complaint said that Mr. Surya, violating the poll code, called for protests when he visited Nagarthpet on Monday and tried to flare up communal passions to create disturbances.
