Belagavi: Tension boiled over when a protest-demonstration by the Lingayat Panchamasali community near the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Tuesday, demanding 2A category reservation as the most backward caste among OBCs, turned violent, with 50 protesters suffering injuries as they clashed with the police.
Panchamasali Lingayats are currently classified as 2B among OBCs, which is a moderate category.
During Tuesday's ‘Sangharsh Yatre' rally, called by Basavajaya Mrityunjaya Swamiji -- the spiritual head of the movement, thousands of members from the Lingayat Panchamasali community, including lawyers and politicians, marched from Kondasakoppa towards the Vidhana Soudha, blocking the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway for more than an hour and triggering a tailback over 6 km.
As the protesters tried to force their way past barricades put up by the police, the cops resorted to lathi charge. The angry protesters retaliated by pelting stones and footwear at the cops and shouted slogans against the state govt and chief minister Siddaramaiah. In the chaos that ensued, dozens sustained injuries.
Police briefly detained the swamiji, Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, and Dharwad MLA Arvind Bellad, along with some of the agitators, to restore normality.
Before violence broke out, a ministerial delegation comprising Laxmi Hebbalkar, HC Mahadevappa, K Venkatesh, and D Sudhakar visited the community members at the Kondasakoppa protest site and requested them to withdraw the agitation.
However, the agitators demanded that the CM should visit the spot or else they would storm into the Vidhana Soudha.
The district administration stated that it applied minimum force against the agitators after they violated the orders of the Dharwad HC.
BJP a divided house
Meanwhile, factionalism within state BJP was out in the open during the Panchamasali agitation.
As Yatnal followers shouted slogans against BJP state president BY Vijayendra, party MLA Siddu Savadi took them on, resulting in heated arguments between the two sides. Police had to intervene to bring the situation under control.
During his speech, as BJP Rajya Sabha MP Iranna Kadadi praised former CM BS Yediyurappa, the agitators shouted "sullu sullu" (false false), adding to the chaos.
Siddaramaiah reacts
Later, responding to queries from the media at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, CM Siddaramaiah said: "We invited the Panchamasali leaders to discuss the issue, but they didn't turn up. We are not opposed to protests as everybody has the right to protest in a democracy."