Tumakuru (Karnataka), Jan 13 (PTI) Tension prevailed at the Mahatma Gandhi Sports Complex in Tumakuru on Monday after the BJP protested, alleging that attempts were made to name it after state Home Minister G Parameshwara, removing Gandhi’s name.
However, Parameshwara refuted the charges, calling it a lie. The Home Minister asked how the Congress can replace the name of Mahatma Gandhi when it is fighting to retain the name of the Rural Employment Guarantee scheme after the centre repealed it.
He said there is a shed next to the Gandhi stadium, which his supporters had developed as an indoor stadium and wanted to give it Parameshwara’s name.
According to sources, BJP workers raised slogans against the Congress government and Parameshwara and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the indoor stadium. They demanded that the nameplate be removed.
Police were deployed in large numbers to prevent any law-and-order situation, but protesters attempted to enter the stadium and remove the nameplate, leading to a scuffle with the police. Several BJP workers were taken into custody.
Meanwhile, BJP MLAs Suresh Gowda and Jyothi Ganesh visited the spot and held discussions with Superintendent of Police Ashok K V, as police security continued to remain in place around the sports complex.
Reacting to it, Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru that the place in question was a shed, which has now been restored.
“Who will remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name? We are fighting to retain the name of Mahatma Gandhi in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Only an insane person can say that we are removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name,” the Minister said.
According to him, there is a shed outside the stadium which has been converted into an indoor complex.
“Some sports persons in the district wrote a letter and insisted that the indoor stadium be named after me without my knowledge. When I came to know, I said I have no connection with it. They told me that I had been a sportsman and bringing an international cricket stadium in the district,” Parameshwara said. PTI GMS GMS ADB
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