Internal reservation protest ended with agitators giving one week’s deadline for the Congress-led government in Karnataka to rectify allotment of quota in internal reservation among the Scheduled Caste community. BJP leader K. Rajiv made the announcement in this regard and persuaded the agitators to halt the protest.
The situation had turned tensed with thousands of protestors blocking the arterial road creating huge traffic pile up in Bengaluru Central District.
A massive protest called “Bengaluru Chalo” was organised this morning at Freedom Park against the Congress government for unscientifically classifying the reservation for Scheduled Castes and denying justice to the Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha, and Korava communities.
Thousands of protestors overthrew barricades and came onto the streets, blocked the road, demanding that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or the Social Welfare Minister come to the spot to listen to their grievances and receive their memorandum.
The protestors refused to meet government officials and sent them back, insisting that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should come in person.
The protestors argued with the police that they would march to Vidhana Soudha if the CM did not come down to meet them. The agitators overthrew barricades and blocked the arterial road. Traffic from Anand Rao Circle to K.R. Circle came to a complete halt, creating severe jams in the surrounding areas.
Commuters returning home after work, unaware of the developments, were stuck in traffic for hours. Even ambulances were caught in the jam, and the police struggled to manage the crowd. As a precautionary measure, the police prepared water jets to quell the mob, and security was beefed up around Vidhana Soudha.
Earlier, speaking to the protestors, Vijayendra said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself should have participated in this programme.
“Honorable Siddaramaiah, it is not important how many days you have been sitting as Chief Minister (CM) in the state; what is extremely important is whether you have delivered justice to all communities while occupying that chair,” stated BJP State President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra.
He remarked that being a Chief Minister and demolishing houses is easy, but building a house is extremely difficult. The people of the state have blessed the Congress party to come to power. The expectation of the people was that justice must be delivered to all Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and nomadic communities of the state. However, after coming to power, the Congress government has completely neglected the issue of delivering justice to the oppressed, he criticized.
A large number of people from the Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha, Korava, and nomadic communities are participating in the protest. Earlier, when the BJP government was in power, 4.5 per cent reservation was provided to protect the interests of these communities. For the nomadic community, a separate 1 per cent reservation was also allotted. It was during the BJP government led by Bommai that decisions were taken in favor of these communities, he elaborated.
When B. S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, he had established the Tanda Development Corporation and Bhovi Development Corporation. He took care to ensure that no community — nomadic, Koracha, Korama—faced injustice, Vijayendra highlighted.
Today, the Congress government is following the exploitative colonial policies of the British. After coming to power, the Congress party has adopted the same oppressive colonial policies. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is responsible for inflicting injustice upon the Banjara, Bhovi, Koracha, Korava, and nomadic communities and sowing seeds of discord in society.
Vijayendra stated that even God cannot forgive the Chief Minister for this.
