BJP Stages Sit-In Outside B'luru Police Commissioner's Office Demanding FIR Against Shivakumar

The BJP in Karnataka on Friday staged a sit-in demonstration on the steps of Bengaluru Police Commissioner's office demanding registration of a case against Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues, alleging they violated court order by protesting in front of the CEO's office.

Later, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka and other leaders met Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and handed over a memorandum to him.

Shivakumar, along with his Cabinet colleagues, staged a sit-in outside the CEO's office on Thursday demanding an FIR and an inquiry into alleged misuse of Form-7 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

In the memorandum, the BJP alleged that Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues had violated a Karnataka High Court order by staging a protest on October 1 on the premises of the State Chief Electoral Officer's office, and demanded that an FIR be registered against them and they be arrested.

"Since this amounts to a clear violation of the order of the Hon'ble High Court and constitutes contempt of court, we request that an FIR be registered against the CM and the ministers and that they be arrested," the memorandum said.

The BJP said the High Court, in a public interest litigation, had restricted sit-ins and protests at places other than Freedom Park, and alleged that the CM and ministers held the protest at the Election Office "without any permission".

It also questioned who had granted permission for the protest and whether written permission had been issued, demanding that a copy of it be made public.

"Was written permission granted for the protest? If so, a copy of the permission should be made public," it said.

The BJP also questioned whether ordinary citizens or Opposition parties would be given similar permission to stage protests on the premises of the Election Office.

The memorandum said the Election Commission was not an organisation under the control of any political party or government, but a constitutionally independent institution and a key component of the electoral system.

"Allowing the premises of such an institution to be used for a political protest raises serious questions about the autonomy of the electoral system and public confidence in it," it said.

The BJP also sought the complete report of the action taken by the police and election officials during the protest.

It demanded the release of the "complete CCTV footage of yesterday's incident, details of the police deployment, the permission letter and related documents."

The party demanded immediate action and sought the details of the action taken in writing.