By Shankar Raj*
Bengaluru: Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, suddenly ‘surfaced’ in a village in Udupi in coastal Karnataka in the form of a road, sending authorities into a tailspin.
Overnight, a road in Bola Gram Panchayat limits in Karkala taluk of Udupi district was named after Godse and very soon the Opposition Congress raised serious objections.
The police rushed to the spot and removed the Godse board. Local sources said the signboard had been installed two days back, but it came to light only on Monday. Bola gram panchayat development officer Rajendra said the panchayat neither installed the signboard nor named it. “It was the work of some miscreants would,” he said.
‘‘We will file a report to the taluk panchayat executive officer in this regard’’ he said.
The road where the board surfaced was concretized some time back and no name was assigned till the Godse board was installed by some miscreants, believed to be of a right-wing fringe group.
Karkala Youth Congress president Yogish Inna said he suspected a panchayat member to be behind the act.
‘‘We have urged the PDO to conduct the enquiry into this matter. We will also approach the police to file a complaint’’ he said.
*Shankar Raj is former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
