While Rajyotsava celebrated in Belagavi, MES activists organise Black Day procession

Karnataka Rajyotsava was celebrated in Belagavi on Tuesday and the celebrations started from the midnight of Monday itself.

Huge crowds, mostly young people, gathered at the Rani Channamma Circle waving flags and they sang and danced and shouted slogans about Kannada and culture. They spent over two hours at the venue.

On Tuesday, three processions were taken out in the city. A procession carrying flags and slogans was taken out from Kanabaragi Road to the Rani Channamma Circle in the morning. In the afternoon, a bigger procession started from the Sangolli Rayanna statue in Peeranwadi to the Rani Channamma Circle. The second procession carried tableaux of pictures of Sangolli Rayanna, Rani Channamma, and Puneeth Rajkumar.

Another procession was taken out in the evening. A 10,000 feet Kannada flag was carried on the shoulders of people along the procession. It started from the Rani Channamma Circle and went through the major streets of the city. Bengaluru-based polyglot actor Sai Kumar joined the celebrations.

Govind Karjol, district in-charge Minister, inaugurated the celebrations at the district stadium. He received the guard of honour and felicitated persons of eminence from various walks of life.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti activists organised Black Day against what they called “the delay in the merger of Marathi speaking areas like Belagavi, Karwar, Bhalki, and Aurad into Maharashtra”.

They took out a rally from Sambhaji gardens and went through some areas in old Belagavi.

Activists wearing black dress carried placards and shouted slogans seeking the merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra. Some raised slogans like: “we will either go to Maharashtra or jail”.

The police had made tight security arrangements. A team led by Police Commissioner M.B. Boralingaiah had put in place a team of senior officers and police personnel across the city.

Enough care was taken to ensure that there was a safe distance between the Kannada and the Marathi rallies.

Earlier, the police stopped a group of Shiv Sena activists led by Vijay Devane from Kolhapur from entering Karnataka. Their vehicles were stopped and they were sent back at the Kuganoli check post. Some activists were sent back from Shinoli check post.