BJP leaders in Ballari have objected to the reported denial of permission to use the city’s municipal ground for the concluding rally of the party’s Ballari Chalo padayatra, while municipal staff have moved to remove banners installed for the event. The dispute comes ahead of a September 10 public meeting planned by the party against the Congress government in Karnataka.
According to Prajavani, BJP leaders had sought permission to hold a large gathering at the municipal ground. Permission was not granted by the education department and local administration, the report said. The report did not specify the written reasons cited by the authorities or whether the party has submitted an alternative venue proposal.
Municipal personnel also began removing banners displayed at different locations in Ballari on the grounds that approval had not been obtained for the banners or the padayatra-related publicity material. Banners installed near Allipur Mutt were among those reportedly removed.
The report further said that banners publicising Congress government schemes were installed on hoardings in the city alongside the removal of the BJP-related material. It did not provide details on the ownership of the hoardings, the applicable municipal rules or whether the government-scheme displays had been installed under a separate authorisation.
BJP leaders alleged that refusing the ground and removing the banners amounted to an attempt by the government to suppress the Opposition’s protest. The allegation was reported in the context of preparations for the Ballari Chalo programme; the source report did not include a response from the state government, the education department, the district administration or the Ballari municipal corporation.
Former Ballari MLA G. Somashekar Reddy was reported to be leading a planned protest by party workers. The proposed demonstration is to begin at Gadagi Channappa Circle and proceed to the district administration office, with hundreds of workers expected to participate, according to the report.
The immediate dispute places the use of municipal public space, permissions for political gatherings and regulation of outdoor banners at the centre of the Ballari programme. The next developments will depend on whether the authorities issue a formal explanation on the ground permission and banner removals, and whether the BJP proceeds with its planned September 10 concluding event and protest.
