Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Congress sounds BBMP polls bugle in Bengaluru, and more

Hundreds of people from different parts of Karnataka took part in the protest march in Hassan on May 30. The participants assembled at Maharaja Park in the district and marched up to the venue of the protest meeting, organised near the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Civil society groups from across the State, including women, labour, farmers, Dalit, and sexual minority groups, raised slogans demanding the arrest of JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who has been facing charges of sexual abuse, as well as justice for survivors of the alleged sexual abuse. Organisers of the march also strongly condemned those who exploited the women in the videos for political gain and called for comprehensive support to the survivors.

Meanwhile, Chethan and Likhith Gowda, who were arrested on charges of circulating objectionable content related to the Prajwal Revanna case, were granted bail by a Hassan court. The accused, said to be associates of former BJP MLA Preetham Gowda, allegedly made the objectionable content viral through pen drive and messaging application on cellphone.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has finally got a shot at elections as the Congress party leadership has directed the office bearers and aspirants to start working at the booth level. With Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar on May 21 asking party workers to prepare for local body elections, there is finally hope that polls for the BBMP, which has been without a council for the last four years, will be held this year.

The Congress party is forming booth-level committees that are a part of the local body election strategy. The members of these panels will make door-to-door visits to talk about not just the guarantee schemes but also other programmes of the State as well as hear out grievances. In Bengaluru, these committees will be formed within three months.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) which has been carrying out the anti-encroachment drive, has removed 2,344 stormwater drain encroachments in the city till May 20. According to the latest data shared by the civic body, there are a total of 4,316 encroachments. 

About 3,182 encroachments are old encroachments and 1,134 are new encroachments which are marked between August 28, 2023 and May 20, 2024. The data reveals that the BBMP has not removed even a single newly-marked encroachment. A total of 1,972 are pending for removal.