MYSURU: BJP is planning to organise people in Keragodu village of Mandya district against the ruling Congress for bringing down the Hanuman flag that led to a controversy. The saffron party also exhorted the villagers at Keragodu and a dozen villages around it to hoist Hanuman flags on all their houses.
Though many houses are already flying the flag, BJP wants all of them to do it “to send out a message to the government”.
On Wednesday, a delegation of saffron party leaders visited the village and interacted with those injured in the lathicharge. They held a meeting with village headmen and panchayat members to plan the next course of the agitation.
The BJP delegation comprising district party president Indresh, leaders Ashok Jayaram and others criticised the police for picking up a ninth standard student, a minor, for interrogation for damaging the publicity material of Congress leaders during the protest.
When the team reached the boy’s house, his father Papanna closed the door and requested the leaders to leave, saying the family is not interested in politics. Indresh consoled him and assured the family that they would stand by them.
He alleged that the police have created a fear among innocent villagers.
Ashok Jairam said they heard the villagers, panchayat members and Gowrishankar Seva Trust members. He alleged that the police misbehaved inhumanly with the villagers, while officers have not had time to hold a peace meeting in the village. The Congress government has turned into a British Raj, picking a minor boy for interrogation in the early hours, worrying women and children, he added.
Gowrishankara Seva Trust member Anand said all the residents of the village had supported hoisting Hanuman flag on the 108 ft flagpost, but a few vested interests are dividing people. The district administration violated the flag code by hoisting a national flag disproportionate to the size of the flagpole, he added. “We had taken Siddaramaiah in a procession of 101 bullocks to inaugurate the Kannada Rajyotsava celebration in Keragodu. But he has forgotten Keragodu. The district administration should hold peace meetings and set right the lapses. We want the case to be handed over to the CBI. We want Justice and peace,” he added.
Incident must not cast shadow on Shivarathri: Panchayat member
Keragodu Panchayat member Shivanand, supported by Congress, on Wednesday urged the district administration to hold a peace meeting to bring back harmony as the village is planning a grand Shivarathri. He said they always celebrate Shivarthri in a grand manner and this incident should not cast a shadow over it. The request to put up a flagpost came before the panchayat and it was approved unanimously at the meeting. The panchayat chief executive officer came to the village after the flag was hoisted, and the members told her that the panchayat had cleared the villagers’ request, he narrated. Though members sought a week to hold a peace meeting, she did not give time and asked them about the need to bring down the flag on a holiday, he said.