Prominent BJP leaders, including Yeddyurappa, detained for holding protest in Mangaluru

The leaders were holding a protest to condemn the alleged murders of party functionaries, despite the police refusing permission for such a protest.
Prominent BJP leaders, including Yeddyurappa, detained for holding protest in Mangaluru
Prominent BJP leaders, including Yeddyurappa, detained for holding protest in Mangaluru
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Several prominent BJP leaders, including the party’s Karnataka State President BS Yeddyurappa, were detained by the Mangaluru Police on Thursday.

The leaders were ferried out of Mangaluru’s Nehru Maidan as the BJP was holding a protest march to condemn the alleged murders of party functionaries, despite the police refusing permission for such a protest.

Numerous BJP cadres and senior party leaders, including Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, former Karnataka Home Minister and Yeddyurappa loyalist R Ashok, were among several party leaders who were detained by the Mangaluru Police.

Thousands of party workers gathered at Mangaluru’s Jyothi Circle and were waving the party’s saffron flags whilst chanting slogans against the Congress-led Siddaramaiah government.

“The law and order situation in the state has deteriorated under the Congress government. So many BJP workers have been brutally murdered. How many more will be killed under the Congress rule?” Yeddyurappa said while addressing the protestors.

The party had initially planned a bike rally titled ‘Mangaluru Chalo’, for which the state police had denied permission.

“Permission was not granted to hold the rally as it would cause traffic problems and it would become extremely difficult to maintain law and order in the city. Besides, public rallies can stir communal tensions and this region has just settled from a spate of communal clashes,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Hanumantharaya said.

Clashes were witnessed between the BJP workers and the police as cadres tried to cross the barricades installed to block the rally.

“The reason we’re holding a public meeting is to condemn the murders of RSS workers in the state. We demand an NIA probe into their deaths,” Yeddyurappa added.

The party also demanded the ban on the Popular Front of India and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, which the saffron party alleged was behind the attacks on BJP functionaries.

The Mangaluru Police Commissioner said that permission was granted for the public gathering between 11am and 2pm.

“But we had not given permission for the bike rally. Hence, we had to detain them,” the DCP added.

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