Local authorities on Saturday night demolished the two domes constructed on top of a bus stop in Mysuru which had resulted in a controversy between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA SA Ramdas and the party’s Mysuru MP Pratap Simha.
On November 14, Simha had stirred a row by saying that the domes resembled a mosque and that he would pull them down.
“I have seen gumbaz-like structures in bus shelters, one big gumbaz in the middle and two small on both sides of it. It is nothing but a masjid (mosque). The engineers have to remove this type of shelters. Otherwise, I’ll bring JCB and bring them down,” the BJP MP had said.
But Krishnaraja constituency BJP MLA Ramadas had defended the construction, saying the dome-shaped structure was constructed keeping in mind the significance of the heritage of the city and that it was modelled on Mysore palace.
The issue had caused a rift between the two elected representatives. Simha had then displayed the original plan of the bus shelter which had no dome-shaped structure and questioned how it was constructed later.
Speaking on the matter, Ramadas on Sunday said, “The bus stop shouldn’t be in controversy. I constructed 12 bus stops across Mysuru as a model palace. But it was given communal colour, and it has hurt me. After taking the opinion of seniors, I demolished two small gumbaz (Dome) and retained the big gumbaz. People should not perceive it otherwise. The decision was taken in the interest of development.”
After the dome-shaped structures were removed, Simha, in a tweet, thanked the deputy commissioner and Ramadas for removing them.
“If there is a big dome in the middle and two smaller domes next to each other, it is a mosque. Thanks to the DC who asked for time and kept his word and to Ramdas ji who understood the reality and bowed to the referendum” he said.
The bus stop was constructed at an estimated cost of ₹10 lakh from the MLA area development grants. Subsequently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also issued a notice to the Karnataka Road infrastructure development limited (KRIDL) and the Mysore city corporation (MCC) authorities to demolish the bus shelter top within seven days as it was constructed illegally on the NHAI property.
The notice stated the authorities did not take any permission from NHAI for the construction.
After the notice, the authorities then changed the colour of the domes from gold to red. They also put up photos of JSS mutt seer Shivarathri Deshikendra swamiji, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai.
Strongly opposing the politicisation of the issue Congress MLA Tanveer Sait had also said that he would not allow the two domes to be demolished at any cost.
