Kundapur, Thursday afternoon — The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee condemned the cleaning of the venue where AICC President and Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge delivered a speech, calling the act an insult to humanity and constitutional values.
Sudheer Kumar Murolli, the KPCC state spokesperson, addressed a protest organised by the Kundapur Block Congress at Shastri Circle. He said the episode crossed the limits of political disagreement and reflected a culture of intolerance. While acknowledging that Kharge opposes the BJP and that the BJP and RSS may contest his ideology, Murolli questioned a political environment that resorts to washing the very spot where a senior leader has spoken.
“The Constitution drafted by Dr B.R. Ambedkar guarantees every citizen the right to protest and express opinion,” Murolli asserted, adding that the Constitution itself cannot be washed away. He highlighted Kharge’s decades of public service and urged that respect for senior leaders be integral to democratic practice. Political differences, he said, should never degenerate into personal insults.
Murolli also appealed to district BJP leaders to repudiate the affront to Kharge, emphasizing that minimum political decency requires condemnation of such acts. Representatives of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, including Manjunath Giliyar, Raju Bettinmane, Jagadish Gangolli, Ganesh Koraga and Ashwath Kumar, joined the protest.
The spokesperson extended the condemnation to recent attacks on journalists, stating that dissatisfaction with news must be expressed through lawful, democratic means. He warned that intimidation of the press cannot be justified under any circumstance and that press freedom is essential for a vibrant democracy.
Block Congress president Keduru Sadananda Shetty, along with leaders Dinesh Hegde Molahalli, Malyadi Shivaram Shetty, Hariprasad Shetty Kanmakki, Vinod Crasta, Devaki Sannaiah, Asha Carvalho, Jyothi Putran, Ichhitarth Shetty, Roshan Shetty, Ashwath Shetty and Nagendra, as well as former municipal and gram panchayat members, participated in the demonstration. After the meeting, the crowd marched through the main roads to the Mini Vidhana Soudha, where they submitted a memorandum to Grade-II Tahsildar Vasanth.
Image for illustration purposes only
📰 Source: Mangalorean News