BENGALURU: Forest and Environment Minister Ramanath Rai’s alleged instruction to the Superintendent of Police of Dakshina Kannada to arrest RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar rocked both the Houses of the state legislature on Monday with BJP members demanding the minister’s resignation.
Raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly, opposition leader Jagadish Shettar drew the house’s attention to a video clip allegedly showing Rai instructing the SP to slap an attempt-to-murder case against Prabhakar and arrest him. “Rai, who has interfered in the police investigation, has no moral right to continue in the ministry. He should be asked to resign,” Shettar demanded.
Shettar added that the SP had cited drug peddling as the main cause for communal violence in Dakshina Kannada district. However, Rai is attributing the violence to Prabhakar’s provocative speeches with an eye on the next Assembly election. Rai is trying to appease a particular community, Shettar said.
Many BJP members supported Shettar and accused Rai of trying to disturb communal harmony in the coastal region.Denying the allegations, Rai said that members of the Sangh Parivar were involved in the murder of a gram panchayat vice-president. This triggered strong protests from BJP members and Congress members countered them. Order was restored only after Speaker K B Koliwad intervened with an assurance of a statement from Home Minister G Parameshwara on the issue.
Defending Rai, Parameshwara said Prabhakar had made provocative speeches earlier too, which had triggered communal clashes. As a precautionary measure Rai, as a district in-charge minister, could have asked the SP to arrest him. Moreover, the SP will not blindly arrest anyone without investigation, he added.
Hindu forums demand minister’s resignation
Mangaluru: The Vishwa Hindu Parishat, Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations conducted a protest rally here on Monday, demanding Minister Ramanath Rai’s resignation. Mangaluru Police along with the Karnataka State Reserve Police took the protesters into custody. Around a 100 protesters were loaded into police buses and taken to the Barke Police Station. Out of these, 42 were held and then released. With this, the city saw two demonstrations on Monday with at least 18 Hindu fringe groups taking part.