Tension prevailed at Peeranwadi, near Belagavi, on Friday after a group of unidentified persons placed a statue of Sangolli Rayanna before daybreak on a makeshift pedestal at the Y-junction on the national highway that passes through the village.
As the news spread on Friday morning, another group tried to install a statue of Shivaji at the same place, arguing that the junction was named “Shivaji Circle”.
The police stopped them from going ahead. As the group started swelling and people demanded removal of Sangolli Rayanna’s statue, police attempted to convince them that the issue would be dealt with legally as it was put up without permission.
Meanwhile, some distance away, members of Sangolli Rayanna Yuva Sangha and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike took out a protest against attempts to install Shivaji statue. As crowds swelled and the situation threatened to go out of hand, the police resorted to lathi-charge.
Police Commissioner K. Thiyagarajan, Deputy Commissioner of Police Seema Latkar, and Assistant Commissioner Narayan Baramani spoke to both the groups and convinced them to eventually leave the area.
Later, Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath convened a meeting of all stakeholders and it was decided that the situation would be resolved after a meeting of district in-charge Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa on Saturday.
Mr. Jarkiholi told journalists in Gokak that he would speak to all parties before arriving at a decision. He urged them to back down a bit so that a solution could be found. This is the second time in two weeks that local youth tried to install Sangolli Rayanna statue at the Y-junction. The police removed it when it was placed the first time on August 15.
