Removal Of Banner Led To Ballari Violence: DK Shivakumar

Ballari: Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president Gururaj A Gururaj A Paniyadi Tuesday said that the Congress fact-finding committee has found that jealousy over the public response to the Valmiki statue led to the removal of banners, triggering the recent violence in Ballari.

Shivakumar had constituted the committee led by Karnataka State Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority chief H M Revanna. The committee had visited Ballari on Jan 3, spoke to the people, leaders and officials. Revanna had then said that the report would be submitted to DK Shivakumar within three days.

Addressing a press conference here, Shivakumar said a party fact-finding committee had informed him that some people, unable to tolerate the appreciation the statue had received, removed the banners, leading to the incident. He said the decision to install the statue was widely welcomed, with residents celebrating the programme from December 24 to 29.

Following the incident the unveiling of the statue was deferred.

Shivakumar said that the new date for the unveiling would be decided after discussion.

He said banners put up at a public place on January 1 — a routine statewide practice — became the flashpoint for the violence.

“If leaders like Janardhan Reddy or B Sriramulu had objections, they could have informed the municipal commissioner, police officers or elected representatives and the banners would have been removed. Instead, the banners were taken down in a manner that insulted Valmiki. When our workers went to put them up again, the situation escalated,” he said.

“I will not judge who is right or wrong; let the public decide,” he remarked.

Shivakumar said the law would take its own course. “Police officers have taken firm decisions. I will not defend the actions of private security personnel. The police have made arrests and discussions are on regarding the issue of private security,” he said.

Reacting sharply on former minister G Janardhan Reddy’s demand for Z-category security, Shivakumar said that if Z-category security is required, it has to be provided by the Central government.

“Those who want it should approach the Centre. We have no objection,” he said.

“MLAs and MPs have been provided police security, and five security personnel have been given to the Janardhan Reddy couple. Two are deployed in Ballari, one in Koppal, one with his wife, one with Somasekhar, and two gunmen have been assigned to Sriramulu. These security personnel are always with them,” he added.

He also questioned Reddy’s claim of a conspiracy to kill him, noting that no formal complaint had been lodged. “If there was such a threat, either he or his gunmen could have filed a complaint,” he added.

Calling for calm, Shivakumar said Ballari had a rich history that should not be tarnished by such incidents. “This district had suffered humiliation, economic loss and job losses in the past, but it has recovered over the last decade. Such incidents should not be allowed to undo that progress,” he added.

Reacting sharply to claims by Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy that two post-mortems had been conducted, Shivakumar said district medical authorities had confirmed that only one post-mortem was carried out between 6 am and 8 am based on a single application.

“I do not know on what basis such claims are being made. The media should ask where this information came from,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Shivakumar visited the residence of deceased Congress worker Rajasekhar and said the party stood firmly with the bereaved family.

Asked if it was correct to suspend the SP of Ballari who had taken charge just 7 hours before the violence, he said, “It was Sriramulu who gave me the information first. I called the SP then but he was not in a condition to speak.”