Police have granted conditional permission for RSS Vijayadashami processions in several Bengaluru police station jurisdictions, with arrangements being made along the planned routes and in areas identified as sensitive, according to police sources cited by Prajavani.
The processions are scheduled in JP Nagar, Chikkapete, Chowdeshwarinagar, Nandini Layout, Mahalakshmi Layout and Koramangala. Police sources said appropriate security arrangements had been made along the procession routes and in sensitive areas.
The permissions follow an exchange between the RSS and the state government over the requirements for organising such events. The RSS had earlier written to the police seeking cooperation for the processions. Home Minister Priyank Kharge had said that a letter alone would not be sufficient and that organisers would have to submit an application in the prescribed format seeking permission.
According to the report, applications were submitted in the prescribed format in most parts of the state. Inspectors in the respective jurisdictions subsequently issued conditional permissions, police sources said. The conditions attached to the permissions were not detailed in the report.
The permission process has also taken place against the backdrop of a political dispute over an earlier statement by Kharge that RSS processions would require approval. The controversy prompted the government to move towards a legal framework requiring organisations, including the RSS, to obtain prior permission before conducting activities or programmes on government property.
The requirement places the policing of public processions within a wider administrative process involving prior applications, jurisdiction-level scrutiny and security planning. In Bengaluru, the responsibility for implementing the permissions rests with the police jurisdictions covering the six listed neighbourhoods, while route security and arrangements in sensitive areas remain part of the operational planning.
The report does not specify the dates and timings of the individual processions, the exact conditions imposed by the police, the expected number of participants or whether traffic restrictions will be introduced. It also does not identify any changes to the approved routes.
For residents and commuters in the affected neighbourhoods, the immediate public-order implications will depend on how the permissions are implemented on the ground. The next operational step identified by the police sources is the deployment of security arrangements along the procession routes and in sensitive locations.
