Lord Ganesha murti in Bengaluru police van sparks row: PM Modi says ‘in Congress-ruled Karnataka, even…’

A massive row errupted after Lord Ganesha was seen seated inside a police van alongside protesters in Karnataka's Bengaluru city. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in Haryana also slammed the Congress ruled state. He said, “In Congress-ruled Karnataka, even Ganpati is being put in jail.”

Here's what happened and why was Lord Ganesha was seated inside the police van

It all started when tension arose in Nagamangala town of Karnataka's Mandya district on Wednesday after two groups clashed during the Ganpati Visarjan procession. Protests were planned to condemn the attack and demand an NIA investigation. In Bengaluru, the Metropolitan Ganesh Utsav Committee organised a protest at Town Hall, despite their permit was denied by the police. A WhatsApp group message encouraging people to attend the demonstration at Town Hall went viral. Upon learning of the plans to assemble at Town Hall, the city police deployed two units of officers in the area.

Speaking about the incident, Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda to News18, “The police had already started detaining the protesters, and on realising that the Ganesha idol was left on the ground, our officer quickly picked up the idol and put it in a safe place.”

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya also condemned his strong disapproval. Taking to X, he wrote, “This visual of Lord Ganesha in a police vehicle is terrifying. Why is the Congress hell-bent on insulting our dieties, & belittling the belief and faith of millions of Hindus?”

Senior VHP leader Girish Bharadwaj also commented on the incident and said that “This image will foreever haunt the Hindus of Karnataka." He wrote on X, “Bhagavan Ganesha, along with Hindu activists, was detained by the Karnataka Police. The arrests followed protests condemning the stone-pelting by Muslims on a Ganesha procession in Nagamangala, Mandya.”

(With inputs from agencies)