Two domes certainly got vanished in the middle of the night from the top of a bus stop at Mysuru, Karnataka after BJP MP Pratap Simha threatened to demolish it as it was allegedly looking like a mosque.
Simha earlier said that two domes that used to flank the main dome in the bus stand visually represented a mosque and set a deadline to remove it.
On his objection, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on November 15 issued a notice to the Mysore city corporation for the removal of a “structure constructed to achieve controversial kind of issues”. It had also given one week time to the city authority to demolish the structure.
Ramdass who is BJP MLA from Krishnaraja constituency under whose domain the bus stop stands 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.”
Earlier, when the controversy evoked and the NHAI issued notice he also said that it was modelled on Mysore palace and was made to uphold the heritage of the city. He ruled out the social media rumours that the contractor was Muslim and said, “False facts like the contractor is a Muslim are being spread on social media.”
Strongly opposing the politicisation of the issue Congress MLA Tanveer Sait said that he would make sure that the domes remain intact.
Sudden removal of the domes however made Simha happy who thanked the district authority for taking immediate actions.
Simha tweeted, “Thanks to the District Collector who asked for time and kept his word and to Ramdas ji, who understood the reality and bowed to the referendum.”
Earlier he gave the explanation for his objection and said, “If there is a big dome in the middle and two smaller domes next to each other, it is a mosque.” He also gave a deadline and added, “I have given three to four days’ deadline to the concerned engineers to demolish the structures. If they don’t demolish them, I will take a JCB [bulldozer] myself and bring them down.”
