BENGALURU: Upset over non-inclusion of former minister and Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy in the cabinet, his followers staged a protest and blocked traffic near Anekal on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Monday.
Traffic on busy Hosur highway was hit for over an hour as around 400 people, who came in cars, bikes and autos blocked the road near Anekal. They were raising slogans against the Congress high command for not inducting Reddy into the cabinet.
According to a senior police officer, the protesters blocked the road by parking their vehicles on the road from 10.30 am and started raising slogans demanding ministerial berth for their leader. Police took the protesters into preventive custody to avoid any untoward incidents and the road was cleared by 12 noon.
Meanwhile, Reddy’s followers in his BTM layout assembly segment held a meeting and expressed displeasure over the Congress party ignoring their leader.
They have decided to take up the issue with the party high command. Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference in the city, Karnataka Reddy Jana Sangha president HN Vijayaraghava Reddy and other leaders of the Sangha said Ramalinga Reddy had played a crucial role in mobilizing around 50 lakh people from the Reddy community spread across 14 districts. They urged the Congress high command to induct him into the cabinet, stating it would help the party during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.