Chaos at Mulky as protestors gherao Abhaychandra Jain, attempted assault alleged
Sunil Haleangady
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (EP)
Mangalore, Dec 31: Chaos prevailed at Mulky here on Monday December 30 as a protest was held to decry the apathy of the local panchayat and elected representatives towards Charantipete road which is filled with potholes.
Minister Abhaychandra Jain, who was surrounded by the protesters reportedly got into an altercation with an auto driver and allegedly tried to assault him.
The road is said to be the main road connecting Moodbidri and Kinnigoli and those going to Kateel temple also have to use this road. It also joins national highway 66 and it is also the route to government hospital and Karnad market.
Several auto, taxi and tempo drivers and members of local groups supported the protest.
When the protesters demanded that the minister come to the spot and accept their appeal, the minister reportedly avoided them by taking an inner road to the panchayat office where he had to attend a programme. This angered the protesters, who confronted at Mulky Billava Sangha premises.
The protesters gheraoed Jain, but Mulky panchayat president Shashikant Shetty, block president Sadashiva Salian and others objected to it. Some shouted slogans in support of him and others against him. The minister who got annoyed allegedly moved towards an auto driver and tried to hit him, but his supporters stopped him from doing any harm. Madhu Acharya, Harish Putran and Harsharaj Shetty pacified the minister and sent him in his car.
Meanwhile, Congress activists told the protestors to went their ire on MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, which angered the BJP party workers, and a Congress-BJP fight was about to erupt when the police intervened and neutralized the situation.
Bipin Prasad, president of Mulky rickshaw owners' union, decried the minister’s attempted assault on the rickshaw driver and said that further course of action will be decided in their next meeting. The rickshaw drivers decided to obesrve a day-long bandh in protes on Tuesday December 31.
JD(S) leader Kishore Shetty Deppaniguthu said the gherao against the minister and shouting of slogans against him was not fair. He said that the attitude of some of the Congress activists had caused the furore.
Sunil Alva of Mulky Citizens' Forum, BJP’s Umesh Manampady and Navin Bappanadu condemned the action of the minister.