Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the stopping of three Dalit ministers by police at Mysuru Palace during the Nandi Dhwaja puja, after the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) accused the Congress government of insulting Dalit representatives and questioned its commitment to social justice.
Kannada and culture minister Tangadagi challenged the officer when he was stopped. The chief minister directed chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh to investigate the incident, identify the officers responsible and submit a report.
“I am the Culture Minister,” he said before moving past the officer, according to a video of the confrontation that was widely shared. He said action would follow against those found guilty.
He added that maintaining discipline while respecting elected representatives was every official’s responsibility and that the government would not tolerate overreach in the name of authority. The chief minister’s office (CMO) statement named four ministers as having been denied entry, although Balakrishna was not visible in the circulating video. He accused the Congress government of failing to practise the equality and social justice it advocates. “I have called this government anti-Dalit several times. “If ministers themselves are subjected to such treatment, what would be the plight of ordinary people under your administration? Is this your social justice? Is this your Ambedkarite ideology? Is this your faith in the Constitution written by him?” the party asked.
There is suspicion in this incident too, as all three ministers were Dalits,” he said. He said the police might have been enforcing security restrictions at an event attended by large crowds.
Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara cautioned against assigning a caste motive before the circumstances were established.
The JD(S), in a post on X, accused the Congress of using Dalits as a vote bank and humiliating them after coming to power. It asked why the ministers accompanying Shivakumar had been left behind rather than escorted into the venue.
