Miscreants allegedly belonging to the JD(S) threw eggs and stones at the BJP’s member of legislative council and former minister C P Yogeeshwara’s car in Channapatna when he went there to lay foundation for development works worth Rs 50 crore on Saturday.
The MLC had gone to Bhyrapatna in Channapatna Taluk under tight security cover when the incident happened. The police said they had sensed trouble due to the heavy presence of JD(S) workers in Channapatna.
The JD(S) workers had a grouse that the second-in-command of their party and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, who is an MLA from Channapatna constituency, was not invited for the foundation-laying function. Instead, Yogeeshwara, who was defeated by Kumaraswamy in the 2018 Assembly election, was inaugurating the public works sidelining the sitting MLA, they charged.
As soon as Yogeeshwara’s car reached the venue, a stone and some eggs flew in the air and hit his car. He was not hurt in the incident. Later, a huge number of JD(S) workers staged demonstration raising slogans in favour of Kumaraswamy and denounced Yogeeshwara for breaching the protocol.
The police said they struggled to contain the mob. The agitators were later taken into custody.
Yogeeshwara. who laid the foundation stone of the works under tight police security, alleged that those who threw stones were hired by Kumaraswamy.
According to him, when the work was sanctioned, and the entire function was supposed to happen under the chairmanship of Kumaraswamy. “There was no lapse and no breach of protocol. The problem with Kumaraswamy is that he cannot tolerate some good work happening in the Taluk, which could not take place when his government was in power,” Yogeeshwara charged. Kumaraswamy denied the accusations and said all the rules related to the public works were ignored.
“All the government rules were thrown to the wind and only for the political reasons today’s event was organised. The Chief Minister had said in the Karnataka Assembly that any government event should happen in the presence of the MLA of the area. It was ignored,” the JD(S) leader alleged.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai condemned the incident. “It is not good to throw stones and eggs at MLC C P Yogeeshwara. I condemn it. Whatever the matter is, it should be resolved lawfully and no one should take law into their hands,” Bommai tweeted.