Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Siddaramaiah supporters' protest turns violent

Special Correspondent

Effigies of Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy burnt

GULBARGA: The protest against the Janata Dal (Secular) replacing the Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the leader of the Janata Dal (S) Legislature Party and the party's demand that two Ministers, H.C. Mahadevappa and Satish Jharkiholi, be dropped from the Council of Ministers, took a violent turn with the protesters stoning a North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) bus at Afsalpur in Gulbarga district.

Members of AHINDA staged a similar protest at Jewargi. More than 400 people participated in the rasta roko agitation on Gulbarga-Bangalore National Highway and burnt the effigy of the President of the Janata Dal (S), H.D. Deve Gowda. In Chincholi, members of the Devaraj Urs Samiti took out a procession and burnt the effigy of Mr. Deve Gowda.

In Afsalpur, volunteers of the samiti, who staged a rasta roko at Basaveshwar Chowk, stoned the NEKRTC bus when it tried to pass through. The police who were taken by surprise by the sudden turn of events. The traffic on Afsalpur-Bijapur State Highwaywas disrupted for more than two hours. Later the protesters marched to the tahsildar's office and staged a dharna. They raised slogans against Mr. Deve Gowda and the Afsalpur MLA, M.Y. Patil, who has sided with the former. The situation is now under control.

Effigies burnt

Bidar Staff Correspondent reports:

Members of AHIND and Sangolli Rayanna Sangha burnt the effigies of the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Mirajuddin Patel, the working president of the Janata Dal (S), H.D. Kumaraswamy, and Mr. Deve Gowda for taking a decision to oust Mr. Siddaramaiah from the party, in Humnabad on Thursday. They also raised slogans against the leaders and took out a procession.

By siding with Mr. Deve Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy, Mr. Patel has only shown that he is "anti-minority and anti-Dalit", Amrit Chimkode, AHIND leader and president of the party's district unit. The leaders Padit Chidri and Basavaraj Hegde said they will also protest against the other party MLAs, including Mallikarjun Khuba and Bandeppa Kashempur, who had deserted Mr. Siddharamaiah.

Rasta roko agitations

Bijapur Staff Correspondent reports:

Mr. Siddaramaiah's supporters staged protests at various places in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts. In Bijapur, Ilkal, Hungund, Nidagundi, Bagalkot, Badami, Bilagi and Guledgud, Mr. Siddaramaiah's supporters resorted to rasta roko agitations. The protestors burnt the effigy of Mr. Deve Gowda.

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