Days after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council passed a resolution prohibiting protests in front of Town Hall, councillors of the Opposition Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) have demanded that the resolution be revoked.
Before the monthly council meeting began on Tuesday, Congress workers staged a protest against the resolution, in the BBMP head office. They said that the civic body was curtailing citizens’ right to speech and right to assembly. A few party workers even gheraoed Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar who was on his way to the council building.
When the meeting began, there was objection to placards against the said resolution that many Opposition councillors had in front of them. Mayor M. Goutham Kumar directed BBMP staff to remove the placards, to which the Congress councillors objected.
They demanded a response from the head of the legal cell on the legality of the suo motu council resolution. They later stormed the well and staged a sit-in dharna.
Several councillors from the ruling BJP, including party leader K.A. Muneendra Kumar, Kacharakanahalli councillor Padmanabha Reddy, and Basavanagudi councillor B.S. Sathyanarayana, took objection to this and claimed that revenue to the BBMP from Town Hall had reduced drastically, as no one was coming forward to book the space to hold events.
Padarayanapura councillor Imran Pasha from JD(S) said that the claims of BJP were untrue and pointed out that ₹45 lakh had been collected from Town Hall last year.
The protesting councillors remained in the well even after the meeting was adjourned briefly by the Mayor. They began to raise slogans against the Mayor and the BJP when the meeting resumed. Despite repeated appeals from the Mayor and senior BJP councillors, the Opposition members did not resume their seats and continued to demand a response from the legal cell. They objected even when the Mayor asked the Commissioner to respond.
Mr. Anil Kumar stated that the resolution was taken at his behest, following his discussions with City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao. He said Town Hall was an important corridor connecting northern and southern parts of the city. Apart from reduction in revenue, the protests in front of the landmark was impacting vehicular movement, especially of ambulances. He also stated categorically that there was a provision in the law to take such suo motu resolutions in public interest. He said citizens can stage protests in front of Gandhi statue at Maurya Circle and in Freedom Park.
However, Opposition councillors seemed unconvinced with his response. Former Mayor Padmavathi took objection to the Commissioner responding to the issue when the House was not in order.
