BENGALURU: High drama unfolded in Bengaluru on Wednesday after BJP MLA from Harihar BP Harish was allegedly targeted with eggs by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) functionaries during a counter-protest by the BJP.The Karnataka BJP unit, led by opposition leaders R Ashoka and Chaluvadhi Narayanswamy, had organised the protest against the Congress demonstration in Delhi near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. The Delhi protest was led by leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.The BJP leaders had planned to gather at Cantonment railway station before marching towards the Karnataka Congress office on Queens Road. However, Harish, who was delayed in joining the BJP contingent, missed the route and ended up near the KPCC office from the other end of Queens Road.While Ashoka and other BJP state leaders were detained by the police and taken away in BMTC buses, Harish was left isolated near the Congress office, where Congress functionaries were waiting to counter the BJP protesters. He was allegedly targeted with eggs.“While the instructions from the party was that all of us will gather at Ashoka’s office in Vidhana Soudha and then proceed together, I got delayed due to a legislature committee meeting. By the time I reached, the BJP contingent had sped away to Cantonment while I trailed in traffic. Having missed the route, my driver took me along another direction to the KPCC office. While walking to the Congress office, and realised that I was isolated, the Congress workers had already noticed me and threw eggs at me,” recalled Harish while speaking to the media.The MLA tried to take shelter inside a caged building area opposite the KPCC office, following which police arrived at the spot and escorted him away.Harish alleged that Congress workers not only threw eggs at him but also punched him on his back before police intervened.Reacting to the incident, Ashoka alleged that the Congress government was being run by members of the erstwhile rowdy-sheeter Kotwal Ramachandra gang.“Both CM DK Shivakumar and KPCC president BK Hariprasad have admitted their association with Kotwal Ramachandra. This shows that the state is run by the Kotwal gang,” he alleged.Ashoka further alleged that the BJP contingent detained by police was “purposefully” taken along the road in front of the KPCC office, where Congress workers were waiting with sticks and eggs.However, Congress state president BK Hariprasad defended the actions of the party workers, saying the incident was a reaction to the BJP’s alleged attempt to enter the Congress office.“For the Congress worker the party office is a temple and they do not like people from the BJP trying to malign it by trying to enter it. It is just like Newton’s laws (every action has an equal and opposite reaction) that eggs are being thrown at the BJP before the latter could throw at them,” he said.Meanwhile, the BJP lodged a complaint with Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police M A Saleem, demanding the immediate arrest of those who allegedly threw eggs at Harish.“We have sought the immediate arrest of the miscreants from the Congress party who threw eggs at me and will wait till late tonight. If the arrests are not carried out then the party will decide on the next course of action,” said Harish.Meanwhile, Congress workers staged a protest outside the BJP headquarters in Malleswaram over the alleged lathi charge on students in Delhi and the NEET paper leak controversy.The Congress workers were also detained and taken away from the vicinity of the BJP office.
