Bengaluru: Private transporters end bandh as Minister Ramalinga Reddy assures fulfilment of demands
Bengaluru: The Federation of the Karnataka State Private Transport Associations has withdrawn the bandh call it had given for Monday, with the members of the Federation stating that Karnataka Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy has assured them of fulfilling their demands.
In addition to the strike of private transport vehicle owners in the city, the Federation members staged a protest at the Freedom Park in Gandhinagar, Bengaluru, demanding that the state government fulfill their demands. Reddy, who met the private vehicle owners at the Freedom Park, promised them that their demands would be fulfilled by the Karnataka government.
Nataraj Sharma, leader of the Federation, told reporters, "Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has met us personally, when we were protesting at the Freedom Park and assured us that our demands would be met. We are ending the bandh in the backdrop of this development and promise from the government."
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
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.
