BJP MP candidates from Bengaluru lead protest over assault on shopkeeper in Nagarthpet allegedly for playing Hanuman Chalisa

BJP leaders blamed the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka for the incident terming it ‘anti-Hindu’ and said the ruling party’s ‘appeasement politics’ had brought on this situation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a ‘Hanuman Chalisa Rally’ in Nagarthpet on March 19 afternoon over the alleged assault on a shopkeeper on March 17. Bengaluru police had refused permission for the rally in light of the Model Code of Conduct, sources said.

All the three BJP candidates from Bengaluru — Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South), P. C. Mohan (Bengaluru Central) and Shobha Karandlaje (Bengaluru North) — led the protest. They and were detained by the police and shifted to CAR Ground. Rajajinagar.

BJP MLA S. Suresh Kumar, who tried to stop the police from dispersing the protesters, was detained, leading to some tense moments.

Several shopkeepers in Nagarthpet downed shutters for the day. Protestors raised ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and chanted Hanuman Chalisa.

BJP MPs blamed the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka for the incident terming it ‘anti-Hindu’ and said the ruling party’s ‘appeasement politics’ had brought on this situation.

“The appeasement politics of the Siddaramaiah government has become a security risk for Hindus. It started with pro-Pakistan slogans, followed by a terror attack and now this assault,” said Ms. Karandlaje.

The alleged assault on Mukesh by a gang of six men over the shopkeeper playing devotional songs on a loudspeaker took a communal colour once BJP entered the fray. Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya visited the area on March 18 and alleged that a gang of Muslims had assaulted the shopkeeper for playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ during the azaan (call for prayer) from a nearby masjid.