Ministers should not have been stopped by the police, says Yathindra

Yathindra Siddaramaiah | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Minister in-charge of Mysuru region Yathindra Siddaramaiah said the police should not have prevented the ministers from entering the Nandidhwaja puja enclosure outside the Mysuru Palace on Vijayadashami day.

In response to journalists’ questions, Dr. Yathindra said he did not know why an officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police had acted in such a manner. “I don’t know why the police overdid it,” he remarked. According to protocol, the police should not have stopped the ministers, he said.

When asked about the BJP’s claim that all the three ministers stopped by the police were Dalits, Dr. Yathindra said their caste was coincidental to the incident. He added that the police also stopped ministers HC Balakrishna and C. Puttarangashetty.

He said he intervened to get the ministers through the police check post when he informed the staff that the chief minister had instructed them to allow the ministers to pass.

Asked if anyone had instructed the police to stop the ministers, Dr. Yathindra said he was not aware of any such ordinance.

“That is exactly what is being investigated. The officer will have to answer these questions before the investigation team,” he said, referring to the government-ordered probe.

An inquiry team has been constituted to probe the incident and submit its findings to the chief secretary, who in turn forwards the report to the chief minister, he said.

When asked about the alleged breach of protocol during the showering of flower petals on the deity, Dr Yathindra said the names of the Chief Minister’s wife and two chief ministers of neighboring states were not included in the official list of protocols.

However, he defended the Chief Minister’s wife Pushpa offering flowers to the deity and said there was nothing wrong with it.

“She only offered flowers to the goddess. The chief minister’s wife is not involved in any government work,” he said, defending her presence on the elevated platform to shower flower petals on the deity.

On leaving out his photo

In response to a question about the omission of his photo from the government’s Dasara advertisements, Dr. Yathindra said that the photograph of the minister in-charge of the area was not shown on every occasion. “I have looked into the matter,” he said.

However, he pointed out that this year, a photograph of Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, a scion of the former Mysuru royal family and Member of Parliament, was included in the advertisements.

As Mr. Wadiyar belonged to a different political party, party workers questioned why the photograph of the district in-charge minister was omitted, said Dr. Yathindra.

Published – 23 Oct 2026 20:42 IST