CHIKBALLAPUR: Hundreds of BJP Yuva Morcha workers who were on a padayatra from Chikballapur to Bengaluru, were arrested at Devanahalli on Sunday.
They were urging the government to solve the water crisis in Kolar, Chikballapur and Bengaluru Rural District. The padayatra, flagged off by state BJP president Prahlad Joshi on Saturday, reached Devanahalli on Sunday when the arrests were made.
A public meet was organised in which former deputy chief minister Eshwarappa spoke. The police arrested the activists when they were on their way to Yelahanka. They were later released in the evening.
Yuva Morcha state president Muniraju Gowda told Express that the police asked the activists to take a different route to Freedom Park in Bengaluru. The activists refused to obey the orders of the police following which they were arrested.
Gowda said right from Chikballapur to Devanahalli, the party workers did not disturb traffic and cooperated with the police. The Congress government arrested the activists to thwart the procession, he alleged.
He said as per its schedule, the padayatra was supposed to halt at Byatrayanapura on Sunday night and reach Freedom Park on Monday through Yelahanka and submit a memorandum to the governor, he added.
BJP Protests
BJP workers led by former MLA Y Sampangi staged a protest at Sooraj Mull Circle, condemning the Congress government for arresting party Yuva Morcha activists who were taking out a padayatra from Chikbllapur to Bengaluru. Sampangi said the Congress government intentionally directed the police to arrest the activists to stop the padayatra.