Ramanagara shuts down to protest against plan to shift medical college

RAMANAGARA: A 12-hour bandh was observed in Ramanagara town on Friday against a proposal to shift the proposed Kengal Hanumanthaiah Medical College under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, on a call given by the College Ulisi Horata Samiti. The bandh is being supported by the JD(S), BJP and pro-Kannada organisations, traders and labourers’ associations and private educational institutions.

The protesters took out a bike rally.

The protesters took out a bike rally from Kempegowda Circle and staged a protest at Ijoor Circle and raised slogans against the government, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, MP D K Suresh and MLA Iqbal Hussain. They also demanded that the medical college should be set up in the district headqurters itself. Former minister C P Yogeshwar and former MLA A Manjunath took part in the protest.

The protesters blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway by squatting on the road for some time. Former MLA Manjunath said, “The Kanakapura brothers are doing injustice to Ramanagara. This protest is symbolic and just a sample. In the coming days, the protest will be intensified and we will shut down the entire district”.

Yogeshwar said the medical college was sanctioned for Ramanagara after much struggle and the previous BJP government conducted the groundbreaking ceremony and allotted funds. “Now, the Congress government is planning to shift the college only to make money. The brothers are acting out of arrogance and the people of Ramanagara should teach them a lesson”, he said.

The protesters then headed to the deputy commissioner’s office to present a memorandum, while raising slogans against the government, but were prevented by the police, leading to a war of words.