The domes on top of a bus shelter along the Ooty road in Karnataka’s Mysuru, were demolished on the night of Sunday, November 27. The order for the domes to be demolished came from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA SA Ramdas. Three weeks ago, BJP Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha stirred controversy by comparing the domes to a mosque and threatened to pull them down. Ramdas, who had taken up the development work of the bus shelter, maintained that the domes were a replica of the Mysuru palace.
According to The New Indian Express, Ramdas issued a press statement on Sunday which said that he had decided to demolish two domes and retain one to end the controversy. He also added that this is the first time any development work undertaken by him has caused a controversy.
On November 13, Pratap Simha addressed a cultural gathering in Mysuru where he said, “I have seen images on social media of a bus stand on which there were gumbaz (domes). At the centre, there was a big gumbaz and besides that, there were two smaller gumbaz… it is a masjid. I have asked Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited engineers to remove it within 3-4 days, or else I have told them that I will bulldoze it with a JCB.” Following this, on November 15, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) issued a statement to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to remove the dome shaped structure as it gave rise to communal tensions in the area.
After the domes were demolished, Simha took to Twitter to thank Ramdas for listening to the people's opinion. His tweet said, "I had told I will get it [the domes] cleared and now this has been cleared. I thank DC who took time to get it cleared and Ramdas who bowed to the people’s opinion on it."
ಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲೊಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗುಂಬಜ್, ಅಕ್ಕಪಕ್ಕ ಎರಡು ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಗುಂಬಜ್ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಅದು ಮಸೀದೀನೇ, ಅದನ್ನು ತೆರವು ಮಾಡಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ಎಂದಿದ್ದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರಂತೆ ನಡೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಕಾಲಾವಕಾಶ ಕೇಳಿ ಮಾತಿನಂತೆ ನಡೆದುಕೊಂಡ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಹಾಗು ವಾಸ್ತವ ಅರಿತು ಜನಾಭಿಪ್ರಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ತಲೆಬಾಗಿದ ರಾಮದಾಸ್ ಜಿ ಅವರಿಗೂ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. pic.twitter.com/9b1wPLULJ4
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) November 27, 2022
Reacting to the controversy former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said that people like Pratap Simha create animosity in society and being an MP, he should not have made those statements.