The Mysuru Dasara access row has triggered a government inquiry after ministers Shivraj Tangadagi, P.M. Narendraswamy and K.S. Basavanthappa were allegedly denied entry during the Nandi flag puja ceremony, with BJP MP Govind Karjol calling the incident an example of untouchability.
Karjol made the allegation while speaking to reporters, claiming that the Dalit ministers were kept out of the worship area on the ground that their presence would defile the site. He described the decision as more than a breach of protocol and said it amounted to the practice of untouchability by the government itself.
The allegation has placed access arrangements at one of Karnataka’s most prominent public and official cultural events under scrutiny. The report does not provide details of who ordered the restriction or the precise operational arrangements at the ceremony. It also does not include a response from the three ministers named by Karjol.
Karjol specifically referred to Basavanthappa, describing him as the son of a civic worker and alleging that he had been treated in the same manner as a civic worker despite holding ministerial office. He also criticised Karnataka Congress leaders for accusing the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of being opposed to Dalits while remaining silent over the Mysuru incident.
His remarks included a wider political attack on Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, B.K. Hariprasad, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Karjol asked the leaders to clarify whether the Congress was casteist or communal, while referring to separate controversies involving the treatment of Dalits.
Hariprasad, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, acknowledged that the ministers should not have been restricted from the Nandi flag puja. He said the incident should not have occurred, but had happened, and added that the Chief Minister had directed an inquiry into the matter.
The competing statements establish two immediate facts: the ministers were prevented from entering the ceremony, according to the report, and a senior Congress leader has called that decision wrong. The inquiry is expected to establish the circumstances behind the restriction, identify responsibility and clarify whether the decision was connected to security, protocol or discriminatory treatment. No findings from that inquiry were available in the supplied report.
