Bowing down to the pressure from his party as well oppose from people to demolish the illegally established religious places, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai has stopped the ‘Demolition Drive’ temporarily.

There was no emergency or hurry to demolish the temples, worship places in the state, the chief minister said.

The chief minister ordered after the government was slammed by BJP and Congress when been to demolish a temple in Nanjangud by the Mysuru district administration. Mysuru BJP MP Pratap Simha chided the government for targeting only Hindu temples.

“I’ve issued a show-cause notice to the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner and the Tahsildar for whatever demolition that has been done and the action that was taken without consulting everyone,’ the chief minister said.

The Supreme Court issued orders in 2009 to ‘demolish/relocate/ regulate’ unauthorised religious structures from public places. Based on this, Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar instructed deputy commissioners to remove the unauthorised structures in the state. Authorities had identified 93 religious structures for demolition in Mysuru alone. There are 6000 illegal such structures in the state.

Bommai said “I will bring this before the Cabinet as well in a day or two and come out with a clear direction on temples. And, since the legislature session is underway, the details will be provided in the House.”

Following the Nanjangud temple demolition, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah called it “an act against Hindu sentiments” and flayed the BJP government.