Bangalore and Belgam ,January 27:Winning elections and losing intrest in the issue is BJP habit they have taken the idgah issue to the boiling point before elections and one in power in karnataka BJP has totally forgotten the idgah issue.
THE BJP has lost an important item on its agenda in Karnataka after the administration hoisted the Tricolour on the Hubli Idgah grounds, following a Supreme Court order restoring the ownership of the land to the local municipality.
Only a few BJP leaders, including local MP Prahlad Joshi, attended the flag- hoisting ceremony on the Idgah grounds on Tuesday.
This is in stark contrast to August 15, 1994, when thousands of Hindu activists, led by the then Bajrang Dal leader Uma Bharti, thronged the Idgah Maidan to attempt hoisting the National Flag. Six people had died in police firing that day.
The row started when the Anjuman- e- Islam, which had obtained a licence from the Hubli- Dharwad Municipal Corporation ( HDMC) in 1921 for prayers on the grounds, intended to convert the licence into a lease and take over the grounds permanently in 1992.
The BJP demanded that the HDMC take control of the grounds and hoist the Tricolour. The issue then entered the courts with both sides being restrained at various levels. BJP leaders such as Ananth Kumar, Jagadish Shettar and Ashok Katwe had spearheaded the campaign.
In the last 20 years, the BJP consolidated its position in the state, playing up the controversy.
In 1994, it won all three assembly segments in Hubli- Dharwad. It also wrested the Dharwad Parliament segment from the Congress in 1996.On January 26 and August 15, it became a custom for the BJP top rung to visit Hubli to unfurl the Tricolour.
The controversy also put an end to the political career of Bharti. In 2004, she had to surrender before a Hubli court after a warrant was issued for her role in the 1994 agitation.Subsequently, she was thrown out of the party.