Being summoned for Shivananda circle flyover protest: AAP

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday alleged that the state government had issued summons from an additional magistrate asking party leaders who were protesting against the steel bridge work near Shivananda Circle, to appear before it.

The party claimed that the quality of the work on the flyover was suspect. AAP’s Bengaluru city president Mohan Dasari said: “On August 29, 2022, Aam Aadmi Party leaders staged a novel protest in the name of ‘40% commission overbridge’ following several loopholes in the steel bridge.

Myself, Mohan Dasari, BT Naganna, Suresh Rathod, Jagadish V Sadam, Kushalaswamy, Suhasini Phaniraj, Channappa Gowda Nellore, Mohammed Asad, Aithulla Rohalla, Mohammed Irfan and others have been summoned.

There are already many cases against the party for questioning corruption and injustice and now it is just another addition to the list,” he said. He added that the BJPled State government had violated AAP’s constitutionally-guaranteed right to protest by issuing the summons.

“In a democratic set-up, everyone has the right to question and protest against the government’s mismanagement. The corrupt BJP government in the state is trying to strangulate democracy by misusing the police department. It is condemnable that a case has been registered even though we protested peacefully. It is clear from this that the state BJP fears the Aam Aadmi Party,” Dasari said.

The AAP leader insisted that the work on the flyover had been unscientific, despite independent study by the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) researcher declaring it safe. “A closer look at the steel bridge at Shivananda Circle raises suspicion that it was constructed using poor quality bearing, shock absorber.

The bridge has joints at every about 20 metres where unscientific humps have been constructed which will irritate the motorists. The bridge is vibrating even if a light vehicle is plying,” he said.