The general body meeting of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) ended in just 25 minutes after the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors rushed to the well of the House and demanded that the issue of dismantling of shamiana by CMC personnel at the BJP’s protest venue at the Clock Tower on August 30, be discussed first.
In the din, the BJP councillors snatched the mike and agenda copy from the hands of CMC president Meenakshi Bannanje and CMC Commissioner D. Manjunathaiah respectively. Earlier, Ms. Bannanje said she would read a statement on street lamps and the Question Hour would be after that. But the BJP councillors demanded that the Question Hour be held first.
When Ms. Bannanje disallowed it, the BJP councillors rushed to the well of the House and then to Ms. Bannanje’s table and started arguing with her and Mr. Manjunathaiah. They charged that the CMC had deliberately removed the shamiana even though the BJP had taken permission to put it up to protest over the sand extraction issue.
But Mr. Manjunathaiah said the BJP had taken permission to stage protest from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on August 30, it had not been given permission to put the shamiana. Hence, the CMC dismantled it after 5.30 p.m., he said.
But Mahesh Thakur, BJP councillor, said the CMC had flouted the norms on conduct of protests. The BJP, as a national party, had every right to protest, he said.
There was slogan shouting between BJP and the ruling Congress councillors. As the BJP councillors were unrelenting, Ms. Bannanje read the entire agenda amidst the din and said that it was passed with a majority and adjourned the meeting. The BJP councillors said this was wrong as they had not signed the attendance register.
Later, the BJP councillors charged Mr. Manjunathaiah of behaving as a “Congress agent” and demanded his apology for dismantling the shamiana. Mr. Manjunathaiah said that he had only followed the rules. “I have not done anything wrong, I will not apologise,” he said.
The BJP councillors warned that they would lock the CMC Office on September 2, if Mr. Manjunathaiah did not tender an apology.