Hubballi: The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has denied the application of the Rani Chennamma Maidan Gajanan Utsav Maha Mandali to install a Lord Kama idol at the Idgah Maidan.
According to HDMC Commissioner Dr. Gopal Krishna, the application was not considered because the Mandali requested permission on March 7 for the installation of the idol on March 9. The short notice did not allow enough time for preparation, especially in terms of security arrangements. He added that with the Prime Minister scheduled to visit the Twin Cities on March 12, all security forces would be concentrated on IIT and other VVIP’s Bandobast, making it impossible to grant permission.
Dr. Krishna informed reporters that HDMC had conveyed this decision to the applicants and would provide a note explaining the reasons for the denial.
Police Commissioner Raman Gupta noted that if the request had been submitted 10-15 days earlier, security arrangements could have been arranged, but the time frame was too limited to mobilize additional forces. Seeking permission from the higher-ups to arrange the additional force in this short period is not possible, he said.
Sanjeev Badaskar, President of Mandali, and other right-wing leaders had elaborated a discussion with the Police Commissioner and HDMC Commissioner in this regard. After the meeting, Badskar said that HDMC has expressed their inability to give permission, citing Prime Minister’s visit to the city. “It is a failure of district and local administration that they can’t give permission to worship the Lord,” he said and add that they would decide the future course of action once they get a written reply from the HDMC on their request. The leaders after that dispersed on their own.
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