Police ban ex-CM Siddaramaiah's entry into Mangaluru, Congress protests

BENGALURU: The Mangaluru Police have put out a notice banning Opposition leader Siddaramaiah from visiting the strife-torn coastal city which has been under curfew. The former Congress chief minister tweeted that the Mangaluru police have prohibited him from entering the city. "We are living in an undeclared emergency situation. @BSYBJP should insist @narendramodi to atleast declare emergency officially & run 'Tuglaq Darbar' as they wish," he tweeted.


Siddaramaiah attacked chief minister BS Yediyurappa in a series of tweets and taunted him to get the Centre to impose emergency in Karnataka, and rule the state the way they wanted. "Don't harass us by prohibiting us from meeting our people," he said.


The State Congress reacted saying that BJP was ruling through suppression and curbing freedom.

The Chief Minister meanwhile is on a day's visit to the coastal city as part of government's efforts to bring about peace in the coastal city at the earliest. The city has been tense after two persons were killed in a police firing during a protest march on Thursday against the citizenship amendment act (CAA).

Former Congress Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has attacked the government in a tweet saying the government denied permission for the flight Siddaramaiah and he and others were supposed to fly to Mangaluru. "Leaders like Ramesh Kumar have been arrested in Mangaluru. Total lock-down on freedom! So much for BJP which did politics on 1975 Emergency, only to beat it," he said.


Former Congress Minister Priyank Kharge tweeted: "Why is state Govt detaining representatives of the opposition at the airport? Can’t we pay homage to the people who lost their lives in #CAAProtest? This kind of clampdown is not acceptable in democracy. Why is Govt hell bent on turning Karnataka into UP?."


The coastal city was tense but remained calm on Friday with no visible protests or demonstrations in the wake of tight vigil the police have bee maintaining. The Congress leaders wanted to meet the families of the deceased, and offer condolences. But the state government sensed trouble and feared that their statements in Mangaluru could further incite violence. The Opposition Congress slammed the government calling its handling of the situation as “de facto emergency,” while the state government maintained that the permission was denied to ensure peace in the region. Siddaramaiah demanded a high-level inquiry from a sitting judge of the High Court into the killings of two civilians. “The state government has to take responsibility for the death of two youth,” he said.

Siddaramaiah, later told the media in Bengaluru that Opposition leader was like the shadow chief minister. What was he for if he is not allowed to visit a city torn by violence, he asked. He wanted to visit Mangaluru to meet the families of victims of police firing and offer support, he said.