Bengaluru cold shoulders the bandh

Bengaluru: The Karnataka bandh fizzled out into a non-event on Monday as people and organisations went about their chores without paying heed to the protest.

It was evident from early morning that the bandh would not affect normal life as there was no disruption of night service buses, which arrived in the city post 6 am.

A large posse of the city police had been deployed at both BMTC and KSRTC terminuses, but no protester turned up to stop the buses. Transport services continued throughout the day without a hitch.

Hotels and restaurants too functioned normally as the city hotel owners association had rejected a request by bandh organisers to down the shutters. By the time Bengalureans headed out to work around 9 am, it was evident that the bandh would not be a success.

Interestingly, there were no leaders to take charge of protests. Mobile phones of most of the leaders, who had extended support for the bandh, were either not reachable or were switched off. With Kannada Okkoota leader Vatal Nagaraj's mobile too not reachable, none of the protesters came to the street demanding the closure of business establishments. All the city malls opened and screened early movie shows. Schools and colleges too functioned normally.

There was some confusion for a few minutes near Devanahalli in the morning as activists tried to stop traffic heading to the Kempegowda International Airport. But Devanahalli police personnel rushed to the spot and cleared the road. Airport cabs and bus services did not face any other problem throughout the day.

The Praveen Shetty faction of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had announced that roads leading to Vidhana Soudha would be blocked.

But he was arrested with his supporters near Mekhri Circle as the police feared that a march would disrupt the convoy of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who was in the city.

The city police issued a notice to Mr Shetty and others for calling for a bandh in violation of a Supreme Court order. Mr Shetty confirmed that he has received the police notice.

All the film theatres on Kempegowda Road, which connects Corporation Circle with Majestic, cancelled their morning shows in support of the bandh.

In Anekal, agitators held a protest march and burnt tyres. Buses heading to Pavagada, Chikkaballpur and Kolar were cancelled because of protests in these cities.

The bandh failure led to a verbal war between Mr Vatal Nagaraj of Kannada Okkoota, who had called for the bandh, and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president Narayana Gowda.

Mr Gowda blamed Mr Nagaraj for going against the wishes of the people and calling for the bandhs. “Karnataka is not the property of anyone,” he said.Mr Nagaraj hit back, saying, “Let Mr Gowda call for a bandh for the cause of Kannada, and we will support him.”