Karnataka Bandh: ‘No need for a bandh,’ says DyCM DK Shivakumar; public transport impacted

In several parts of the state, the pro-kannada groups took to the streets staging protests and they appealed to the shopkeepers to cooperate and extend their support for the cause. But most of the shops were open as usual.

In Bengaluru, the activists gathered at the Mysore Bank circle and raised slogans holding placards.

Some activists staged a demonstration at the BMTC and KSRTC bus stand at Majestic in the state capital.

The protestors appealed to the bus drivers and conductors to support the call for Bandh. As their agitation intensified, police took them under preventive custody.

In Mysuru, some pro-Kannada activists staged a sit-in protest by blocking buses at the suburban bus stand.

They staged a dharna near the exit gate to block buses heading to Bengaluru and other parts of the state.

Some members of pro-Kannada groups were taken into preventive custody after they attempted to stop a KSRTC bus in Mysuru.

According to sources, some autorickshaws, cabs and private drivers' unions, associations have extended support to the shutdown, while hotel associations, malls, bars and restaurants have only offered moral support.

Meanwhile, emergency services -- pharmacies, hospitals, and ambulance services, petrol pumps and metro services will remain operational amid the bandh.

Sources in Belagavi said the KSRTC buses were plying as usual but there was restricted movement of buses from Maharashtra to this border town in north Karnataka, which was at the centre of the linguistic row.

Besides the attack on a bus conductor at Balekundri, Panchayat officials were abused recently in Kinaye village in Belagavi for not speaking in Marathi.

Belagavi just at the border of Maharashtra has a substantial Marathi population where the border row flares up from time to time. (PTI)

In Bengaluru, the activists gathered at the Mysore Bank circle and raised slogans holding placards.

Some activists staged a demonstration at the BMTC and KSRTC bus stand at Majestic in the state capital.

The protestors appealed to the bus drivers and conductors to support the call for Bandh. As their agitation intensified, police took them under preventive custody.

In Mysuru, some pro-Kannada activists staged a sit-in protest by blocking buses at the suburban bus stand.

Pro-Kannada activists blocked roads and chanted slogans amid the Karnataka bandh protests.

Ravi Shetty Byndoor, Chairman of the Labour Council and a pro-Kannada activist, said, "Government is using the Police to suppress us. Vatal Nagaraj has called for a bandh. For that, many people have voluntarily come forward to go on a bandh. We are here to convince the bus drivers and operators. But they are stopping us. The government is sending us notice after notice. What are we, goons? We will start the rally at 11 am. We will take out the rally from Town Hall to Freedom Park."

People in Hubbali-Dharwad were seen carrying out their regular daily chores and vehicles, shops remain open, and vehicle plying continued amid the 12-hour Karnataka bandh by pro-Kannada organisations. The bandh has been called in protest against the alleged assault on a bus conductor in Belagavi for not speaking Marathi.