Bangalore, September 26: About 30 Congress leaders, including KPCC President R V Deshpande and leader of opposition in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah, were today taken into custody when they tried to lay siege to the state Secretariat to protest the BJP government”s “failures”. Defying prohibitory orders, the protesters including MLAs and former legislators headed towards the Vidhana Soudha to highlight what the party termed as failures of the B S Yeddyurappa government but they were blocked by police, who had set up barricades at all entry points.
The legislators also exchanged heated words with police before they were taken into custody. KPCC Working President D K Shivakumar, who was also detained, alleged that the BJP government”s action infringed on the rights of elected representatives, who wanted to hold a peaceful protest against government”s “misdeeds”.
“There is an emergency-like situation. We are in a democracy,” he said.
Traffic came to a grinding halt at several arterial roads in and around Vidhana Soudha due to the protest. Some Congress leaders tried to break the police barricades and gain entry into the Secretariat, which was foiled.
Siddaramaiah staged a dharna along with his supporters for sometime and was later taken to Audugodi police station. “There is no government in Karnataka.
There is no development under BJP rule. Should we not protest it,” Deshpande asked.
—–PTI–