Violence rocks Mysore after Siddaramaiah’s arrest

Violence broke out at Mysore near here on Saturday night after the police arrested senior Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his supporters to prevent a clash between Congress and JD (S) workers at Jayapura village on the outskirts of Mysore.

Angry supporters of Siddaramaiah went on a rampage torching buses and attacking vehicles passing by the village. Five buses and a motorcycle was set on fire near Mysore as the news about Siddaramaiah’s arrest sparked off widespread protests on Saturday night.

Shops and business establishments remained closed in Mysore on Sunday in response to a call for shutdown given by the Congress party to denounce the “vindictive” politics of the ruling JD (S). State-run buses were withdrawn from service while vehicular traffic remained thin in Mysore. Congress activists even detained trains leaving for Bangalore.

Protests were also reported from Bangalore, Davangere, Chitradurga and Gulbarga. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who rushed to Mysore, criticized the ruling JD (S) for resorting to “desperate” measures in the wake of the humiliating defeat they sufferred at the hands of Siddaramaiah in the by-polls to Chamundeshwari assembly constituency recently.

Former Chief Minister Dharam Singh, who also reached Mysore, said the Congress party would stage a demonstration during the proceedings of the State Legislature on Monday.

Trouble began on Saturday evening after JD (S) supporters turned up at Jayapura village for a function in which Siddaramaiah was scheduled to lay the foundation stone for a primary health centre in his capacity as an elected MLA of the constituency. The JD (S) supporters contended Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was scheduled to lay the foundation stone and accused Siddaramaiah of violating the protocol.

With the situation turning volatile and threatening to go out of the hand, the police imposed prohibitory orders in the village and took Siddaramaiah and 130 of his supporters into custody. They were brought to Mysore in a police van and detained at District Armed Reserve (DAR) grounds, triggering demonstrations in various parts of the City.

Hundreds of Congress supporters mobbed the DAR grounds and demanded the release of the former Deputy Chief Minister. Though the Siddaramaiah was released, he and supporters reached the office of the deputy commissioner and staged an overnight demonstration.