MES rally flops in Belagavi as state bans two Maharashtra ministers

Belagavi: A rally taken out by pro-Maharashtra organisations  on Thursday to protest Urban Development Minister Roshan Baig’s warning that any corporator taking an anti-Karnataka stand would lose his seat in the council, proved to be a non-starter with the district administration banning the entry of two senior Maharashtra ministers, who were supposed to join it. 

Both  ministers were sent back by the state police when they arrived in their  vehicles arrived at Kugnoli Cross on the state's border Thursday afternoon.

With  Mr Baig's caution setting off protests in several border cities of Maharashtra Wednesday evening,  Ministers Diwakar Rawat and Deepak Sawant had promised to attend the rally organised by the MES in Belagavi. 

But with  the police intercepting them at the border and sending them back, the rally seemed to run out of steam. Many top leaders of MES in Belagavi, including MLAs Sambhaji Patil and Arvind Patil,  didn’t seem enthusiastic about it after hearing of the two ministers being turned back.  In fact, neither Mr Sambhaji nor Mr Arvind joined the protesters in raising “Jai Maharashtra” slogans. 

The police, meanwhile, booked hundreds of protesters, including Mr Sambhaji Patil,  for raising anti-Karnataka slogans.