BENGALURU: The BJP on Saturday staged a protest against the state government and the Congress-JD(S) combo ruling the BBMP over the pothole and garbage menace plaguing the city. BJP members also tried to lay siege to the Palike building to register their protest. Hundreds of party workers along with leaders, including former DyCM R Ashoka, MP P C Mohan, MLAs, including B N Vijaykumar, Aravinda Limbavali and Ravi Subramanya, and others walked from Bannappa Park to BBMP head office in the morning. This caused traffic snarls in and around Hudson Circle. BJP leaders flayed the state government and the ruling parties in the BBMP for the crumbling infrastructure of the Silicon City. After they entered the Palike premises, BBMP security personnel closed some of the gates and this caused inconvenience to the public.
Over 100 policemen, in two BMTC buses, from the Bengaluru Police Central division were called in. This apart, there were police personnel from the Halasuru Gate police station. Mahesh, an employee with a private firm, said he was in the Palike office to get a Khata certificate from the citizen service centre. “The middle gate was locked by security personnel. They asked me to use other gates. Police had put up barricades near the Vokkaligara Sangha too ... I had to struggle to get my work done.” In another case, Usha and her team had come to the Palike office to meet health department officials. They were seen sitting outside the premises of the urban body as they were not allowed inside. Also, parking was a major issue. “There were two BMTC buses ... a few police vehicles and VIP cars which were parked. We did not have enough space to park our two-wheelers,” Srikanth, who runs a shop at Cottonpet, told Express.