Supporters of Congress and BJP clashed with each other at Hucchagani village in Nanjangud following differences over the proposed reconstruction of the old Mahadevamma Temple, which was razed to the ground during a recent drive by the authorities.
Two persons were admitted to K.R. Hospital in Mysuru for treatment while another was provided treatment locally, said Superintendent of Mysuru district R. Chetan. Adequate police had been deployed in the village and the situation is under control, he added.
Though political rivalry existed between the two groups and had surfaced during elections to local bodies earlier, the discussions over the course of action to adopted for the reconstruction took a turn for the worse, leading to members of the rival groups attacking each other.
It may be mentioned here that Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as well as BJP MP Pratap Simha had taken exception to the demolition of the temple as part of the drive against unauthorised religious structures following a direction from the Supreme Court.
The temple was situated along the road leading to Nanjangud from H.D .Kote. The residents of the village, who were up in arms against the officials for their action, have now kept the deity in a makeshift shed erected on a plot of land adjacent to the demolished temple and begun offering prayers.
A resident of the village had offered 5 guntas of land and the residents urged the State government to construct a new temple on this piece of land.
Former MP of Chamarajanagar and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Working President R. Dhruvanarayan visited the village on Wednesday and questioned the BJP government’s “double-standards” on the issue of unauthorised religious structures.
“They issue orders to demolish the religious structures and later ask officials to stop the drive”, he said, taking exception to the demolition of the temple without taking the locals into confidence. The demolition has hurt the sentiments of the people, he said.
Meanwhile, former MLA M.K. Somashekar of the Congress led a group of supporters, who were protesting against the identification of the 101 Ganapathi temple at Agrahara in Mysuru for removal by the district administration as part of the drive against illegal religious structures.
