Congress waived rent for CJP protest at Freedom Park

Bengaluru: Opposition leader R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of extending preferential treatment to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), alleging that the organisers were allowed to use the Freedom Park hall in Bengaluru without paying rent for their October 8 protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The demonstration demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Actor Prakash Raj, Abhijit Deepke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and activists from various organisations participated in the protest. Ashoka claimed that organisations using the Freedom Park hall under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) jurisdiction were required to pay Rs. 1 lakh in rent. However, he alleged that the CJP had not paid any amount for the event.

He further claimed that a Bengaluru MLA and a political leader had verbally instructed officials not to collect rent from the organisers.

The allegation has not been independently verified. Targeting Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Ashoka questioned whether farmers facing drought-related hardships, ASHA workers and Anganwadi employees protesting for higher remuneration were also provided free access to the same facility.

He demanded that the government immediately disclose how much rent had been collected from the CJP organisers, if any, and clarify whether an exemption had been granted.

Ashoka alleged that the Congress government was facilitating protests against the BJP and the Union government by extending special concessions. He said that if the government intended to waive rental charges for one organisation, similar facilities should be made available to all groups.

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The Hans India