Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) has accused BJP MP from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya of violating the BBMP’s Advertisement Bye-laws (2006), by painting his party logo on walls in the city.
Despite the High Court of Karnataka prohibiting painting on walls as an outdoor media advertisement, Mr. Surya painted the city’s walls with the BJP logo, and shared the same on his Instagram handle, stating, “As part of the Vijay Sankalpa Abhiyan, I had the opportunity to wall paint our party’s logo in Jayanagar today.”
Similar paintings were noticed in Begur and a few other parts of Bengaluru, according to the BNP.
As per BBMP’s Advertisement Bye-laws (2006): ‘No person shall use ‘Wall Painting’ as an outdoor media in the city of Bengaluru without valid permission from the Commissioner of BBMP, except in the prescribed ‘D’ zone as per conditions prescribed by the Council in this regard’.
On February 1, BNP condemned the wall paintings by Mr. Surya stating: “No person or party is allowed to misuse public space in this manner, it is against the court’s order. Why, despite being aware of the irresponsible act by the BJP leader, has the BBMP not initiated any action against him? We demand that the Joint Commissioners and Chief Engineers of the zones take this seriously and take action against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya without any fear or favour.”
Action will be taken: BBMP
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials claimed ignorance about defacement of public property. They said that action will be taken against the culprits after an investigation.
Jayaram Raipura, BBMP Zonal Commissioner (South), told The Hindu, said, “I have got information about this. It is illegal, and action will be taken against the people who have painted on public walls.”
Mr. Surya was not available for comment.
