News & Pics: Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Sep 28: BJP held protests in Bidkalkatte on Wednesday, September 28, alleging a deadly assault on Gram panchayat president Udaya Kulal at Molahalli gram panchayat office in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 27.

Addressing the protest meeting, Udupi district BJP president, Mattar Rathnakar Hegde said that everybody has the right to express their opinions in a democracy.  “Congress supported members in Molahalli grama panchayat are acting like dictators.  The assault on President Udaya Kulal who questioned their behaviour is condemnable,” he said.

“A special meeting was called to discuss the distribution of funds with respect to the distribution of houses, and the president who did not bow to Congress' pressure that houses should be allotted to those they liked, caused them to tie the president and assault him.  The harassment such as this is lethal to any democratic system, and everybody should condemn it,” he said.

“We have come to know that the decision to assault was taken by Congress supported members before the decision in the meeting.  With this Congress has created a notorious history by attacking gram panchayat president in his office,” he said.

Suprasad Shetty, speaking on occasion, said that Police should not bow to pressure in criminal cases.  “The assaulters of president Udaya Kulal should be arrested after holding an impartial enquiry,” he said.

District panchayat president Dinaker Babu said that in the panchayat raj system, grama panchayat president is the first citizen of the gram.

“One should think of the fate of common man if such an assault has taken place on him.  The guilty must be punished without delay,” he said.

Kundapur block BJP president Kadooru Suresh Shetty, Shanker Ankadakatte Kundapur taluk panchayat president Jayashree Mogaveera, district panchayat members Srilatha Shetty, Pratap Hegde, Supritha Kulal, district farmer morcha Vice president Pravin Kumar Shetty, Corporation vice president Rajesh Kaveri, former zilla panchayat vice president Prakash Mendon, Yuva Morcha president Sathish Poojary Vakwady, taluk panchayat members, and hundreds of party workers
participated in the protests.

Most of the shops in Bidkalkatte and Molahalli closed their shutters and showed their support for the protests, while the Kota station police provided security.