Bengaluru: Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers clashed outside the Karnataka Pradesh Congress committee (KPCC) office on Queen’s Road in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Former deputy chief minister R Ashok has received head injury in the melee. Police have shifted Ashok to the nearby private hospital for treatment.
“I do not know how it happened. Doctor gave me an injection. Now, I am fine. As far as the police high-handedness, the state government has colluded with the police,’’ Ashok said.
BJP activists organized protest condemning Congress for politicizing Mahadayi water dispute. They alleged Congress leaders encouraging farmers from North Karnataka to stage day and night dharna in front of State BJP office at Mellswaram in Bengaluru since three days.
The police tried to evacuate protestors from both parties. BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje was dragged from the protest site by police personnel after she staged a sit-in protest.
Both parties shouted slogans accusing each other of failing the people of North Karnataka (specifically the Mumbai Karnataka region) in the Mahadayi water sharing row. “The Siddaramaiah government doesn’t have the capacity to resolve the issue. Yeddyurappa has paved the way for talks with Goa but Siddaramaiah refuses to do what is in people’s welfare. Instead, his party is indulging in politics over water,” he said.
