Mixed response to shutdown call in Karnataka

The Karnataka shutdown call given by the Federation of Kannada Associations received a mixed response in the state on Monday.

Government and private schools, colleges, hotels and business establishments remained open while a few cinema halls cancelled the morning show in Bengaluru.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) operated bus services as usual.

The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) operated metro services. Police beefed up security at bus and metro stations in the city.

"We want the government to waive off farm loans and supply water to Kolar and Chikballapur districts. Our agitation will continue till the government meets our demands,'' Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president Praveen Shetty told reporters here.

The agitators attempted to take out a rally from the Town Hall to the Karnataka Assembly but police bundled them into BMTC buses and took them to an undisclosed destination.

The agitators wanted to lay siege to the Assembly in support of their demands.

The shutdown was total in Chikballapur and Kolar districts in south Karnataka. The agitators stopped the car in which former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Late Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao's grandson Tarak was travelling to Bengaluru.

His vehicle was stopped at Srinivaspura circle in Kolar district for a few minutes. The agitators let him continue his journey after a few minutes.

The shutdown was near total in Hubballi and Nargund in north Karnataka. The agitators formed a human chain preventing North-Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation buses from plying.

Normal life was not affected in Mysuru due to the shutdown call.

--IANS

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