Bengaluru: Congress leaders staged protests at Thruvalluvar Statue in Ulsoor on Thursday. The Congress leader KJ George, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy alleged that BJP supporters demolished the platform and compound wall here recently and demanded protection for the statue.

They said that development in and around the statue taken up at the local level deliberately covered the name board with the inauguration details of former Chief Minister BS Yediyuarappa. This reportedly enraged the BJP supporters and on Wednesday, the compound wall and structure covering the names on stone was razed.

The statue of the Tamil poet was unveiled during the Congress regime but the BJP played politics and put Yediyurappa’s name during their rule, but the Congress did not protest, said former Minister KJ George.

Congress respects Thiruvalluvar and other great reformers. When BJP removed the old plaque at the statue containing S Bangarappa’s and my name, we kept silent. For us, the statue was important as we also see Thiruvalluvar as our guru, he said.