No bandh today, postponed to January 22

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The December 31 bandh called by Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha(KCVP) demanding a ban on the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which had led to a divide among pro-Kannada outfits, was postponed to January 22 following Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s intervention.

The MES had incurred the wrath of the outfits following the defacing of a statue of Kannada icon Sangolli Rayanna in Belagavi and the targeting of Karnataka government vehicles during the recent Belagavi Assembly session. But all Kannada outfits were not on the same page as far as the bandh was concerned nor did the bandh receive the wholehearted backing of the film fraternity because of the release of several films on the last day of the year.

“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held talks with us twice and told us that he has already initiated measures to ban MES for burning Kannada flags and damaging the statue of Sangolli Rayanna. We have to respect our CM and so, we have postponed the bandh to January 22,’’ said KCVP president Vatal Nagaraj, adding that the bandh was not postponed for the benefit of the Kannada movie industry.

“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held talks with us twice and told us that he has already initiated measures to ban MES for burning Kannada flags and damaging the statue of Sangolli Rayanna. We have to respect our CM and so, we have postponed the bandh to January 22,’’ said KCVP president Vatal Nagaraj, adding that the bandh was not postponed for the benefit of the Kannada movie industry.

Bommai had on Wednesday appealed to Kannada organizations to call off the state-wide bandh explaining that the government has already taken action against MES and the demand to ban it is being examined.

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) led by A Narayana Gowda had made it clear a few days ago that they were not in favour of the bandh but would take out a rally from Town Hall to Mysore Bank Circle in the city on December 31. The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike led by Praveen Shetty had initially extended support to the bandh but later withdrew support. Shetty made it clear that he did not want people to suffer due to the bandh as they had already suffered a lot due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Many Kannada movie producers have appealed to me not to support the bandh as it would have an adverse impact on the Kannada film industry which is already reeling under losses due to the pandemic. They told me that three Kannada movies are slated for release on December 31. So, I advised Vatal Nagaraj to reconsider his decision to go ahead with the bandh,’’ said Praveen Shetty.

Prominent personalities of Sandalwood including Shivarajkumar and director Guru Deshpande had opposed the bandh call given by the pro-Kannada organizations. They felt the bandh would affect the Kannada film industry. “I had appealed to Kannada leaders to postpone the bandh and told them it would affect the prospects of my movie ‘Love You Rachchu’ in which I have invested Rs 4 crore,’’ said director Guru Deshpande.

Kannada movies Arjun Gowda, Love You Rachchu and Huttu Habbada Shubhashayagalu are scheduled for release on Friday.

Rudramurthy, general secretary, Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union, felt the bandh to pressurise the government to ban MES would not serve any purpose. “It is better to call for a Belagavi bandh instead of a Karnataka bandh. I welcome the decision to postpone the bandh. Autorickshaw drivers would have lost their earnings had Kannada organizations gone ahead with their plan on Friday,’’ said Rudramurthy.

Expressing a similar opinion, Adarsha Auto and Cab Drivers’ Association secretary C Sampath said, “the bandh would have affected autorickshaw drivers and cab drivers.’’ Peenya Industries Association general secretary Shiva Kumar R welcomed the decision to postpone the bandh. “Many industries in Peenya Industrial Area can dispatch goods without any hassles on Friday,’’ he said.