Siddaramaiah faces BJP Youth Wing’s ire during visit to Kodagu

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah faced the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Youth Wing activists here on Thursday for his alleged statement questioning the need for the Hindutva activists to put up Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar’s photograph in a Muslim area in Shivamogga, which led to the clashes a few days ago.

The protest led to clashes between the Congress and the BJP workers.

Siddaramaiah today went to Madikeri, the district headquarter town of Kodagu, to inspect the losses occurred due to the recent spell of rain which had resulted in deaths, damage to houses, crops, infrastructure and landslide.

As soon as the vehicle passed through the General Thimmayya Road, the BJP workers tried to interrupt the convoy of the Congress leader.

They showed him a black flag and raised slogans such as ‘Go back Siddaramaiah’. It is learnt that some of the protesters threw eggs on the former chief minister’s car.

The BJP workers showed him Savarkar’s photos, too. One of the BJP activists threw Savarkar’s photo on Siddaramaiah’s lap when his convoy was moving slowly.

The police had a difficult time controlling the BJP protesters, including women, who stood in the middle of the road, blocking Siddaramaiah’s convoy.

The Kodagu unit of the BJP Youth Wing also shared posts on social media, which read, “Siddu Khan enters Kodagu -- Kodagu defiled.” “Go back Siddu Khan, the disciple of Tipu Sultan who carried out genocide in Kodagu.” Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd at Guddehosur near Kodagu border. Due to the resultant tense situation, police took a few of the protesters into custody.

Reacting to the incident, Siddaramaiah said the protest was an act of miscreants.

“The compensation for the rain-related damage was not paid properly. The protesters did not wish me to see the sub-standard wall of the deputy commissioner’s office. The government is dead. Hence, they paid people to stage the protest,” Siddaramaiah alleged.

On August 15, a few people had put up Savarkar’s photo in a circle close to a mosque in Shivamogga, which led to tension in the town. An individual Prem Singh, who hails from Rajasthan and works in a shop in Shivamogga, was stabbed.

Following the clash, the district administration swung into action and imposed prohibitory orders. The police arrested four Muslims on charges of stabbing Singh. Police took one of the accused into custody after shooting in his leg as he had allegedly tried to attack policemen who went to arrest him.

The next day, another Bajrang Dal activist was stabbed in Bhadravathi town in this connection another Muslim youth was arrested.