Police resort to lathi charge as Congress meeting turns violent

Kolar: Violence erupted when Congress party workers of two factions locked horns with each other at the Congress party’s meeting to seeking party workers’ feedback on the party’s official candidate for the Kolar Assembly segment. The police had to resort to lathi charge to bring the situation into control.

MP K H Muniyappa was gheraoed by a section of party workers as he arrived for the meeting. They accused him of taking unilateral decision regarding finalising the party’s official candidate. They also alleged that the MP was overly friendly with the Independent MLA Varthur Prakash which resulted in the past defeat of the party’s official candidates.

This prevention of Muniyappa from entering the dais angered his supporters who retaliated, resulting in manhandling between the two factions which forced the intervention of the police by the way of lathi charge. Muniyappa however reached the stage escorted by his supporters.

“Allegations against me are baseless. Let those making allegations come to a masjid, touch the Quran to swear that the charges are genuine”, he clarified at the meeting. He called upon party workers to work together to defeat Prakash and bring back ex-party workers who had joined Varthur Prakash’s Namma Congress Party.