Mumbai (PTI): More than 80,000 idols were immersed between Saturday, which was the fifth day of Ganesh festivities, and the early hours of Sunday in Mumbai, a civic official said.

As per a release from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 80,969 idols were immersed till 3am on Sunday, comprising 1,410 'sarvajanik' or public idols, 71,821 household ones and 7,738 Gauri Ganesh idols.

Of these, 32,509 idols were immersed in artificial waterbodies, comprising 581 public idols, 29,620 household ones and 2,308 Gauri Ganesh idols, it said.

The immersions took place in Girgaum, Dadar, Juhu, Marve and Aksa beaches and 73 natural spots as well as 191 artificial ponds created by the civic body.

In a statement, Mumbai police said 2,094 officials, 11083 constables, 32 platoons of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Quick Response Team (QRT), Rapid Action Force and Home Guards have been deployed in the city in view of festivities.

It said no untoward incident was reported through the day during immersion.

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Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.

Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.

He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.

Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.

He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.

Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.

He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.