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Bangalore: Many
educational institutions in Karnataka did not open, state-run
buses went off roads, and a few vehicles were stoned Saturday as
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised a daylong
shutdown to protest Governor H.R. Bhardwaj's move to allow Chief
Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's prosecution over corruption charges.
"We have withdrawn bus services at most of the places across the
state after many were stoned," a spokesperson of the Karnataka
State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which runs buses across
the state, told IANS here.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) said its
services in the city were not affected though there were instances
of stone throwing late Friday soon after Bhardwaj granted
permission to prosecute Yeddyurappa over corruption charges.
"We will withdraw the services if our buses are attacked," a
spokesperson said.
In Bangalore, police clamped prohibitory orders that bar assembly
of five or more persons at a place for two days.
"We have deployed around 18,000 police personnel on duty in the
city to maintain peace," a Bangalore city police spokesperson
said.
BJP activists in Yeddyurappa's home district of Shimoga, about 280
km from Bangalore, blocked trains for about half an hour.
Most of the schools and colleges across the state declared a
holiday fearing violence. The shutdown, however, would not affect
most of the IT firms as Saturday is holiday for them.
BJP workers in north Karnataka towns of Hubli, Bidar, Gulbarga,
Haveri and Mysore, Tumkur, and other districts in south began
protests late Friday itself after Bhardwaj's sanction to file
criminal cases against Yeddyurappa.
The permission to launch criminal proceedings against BJP's first
chief minister in south India was sought by two Bangalore-based
advocates, Sirajin Basha and K.N. Balaraj, on Dec 28 following the
revelation that Yeddyurappa had favoured his kin with prime land
in and around Bangalore.
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