New Delhi:
In what could be a big reason of embarrassment for the Congress in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah raked up a huge controversy on Monday after the minister was caught on camera snatching away the mic from a woman's hand. However, the Congress leader's attempt to snatch the mic resulted in her dupatta being pulled off, giving a further boost to the controversy. Siddaramaiah pushed the woman down after she tried to raise her complaint at an event held in Mysuru. The incident took place in Gargeshwari village, Varuna taluk, where Siddaramaiah went to attend a Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation programme this afternoon.
"WATCH Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah misbehaves with a woman at a public meeting in Mysuru," the news agency ANI reported.
#WATCH Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah misbehaves with a woman at a public meeting in Mysuru. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/MhQvUHIc3x
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2019
As per the media reports, the Congress leader lost his cool after the woman complained that she has not been able to get in touch with Siddaramaiah's son and MLA Yathindra for long. Post that, the former chief minister lunged towards the woman to snatch the mic but in between the dupatta also came off, making the incident even more embarrassing for the former CM. The purported video clip, which is doing rounds on social networking sites, shows the woman continuing with her allegations despite Siddaramaiah's desperate attempt to shout her down.
To explain his behaviour with the party worker, the Congress leader said, "it was an accident, there was no bad intention. I know her for the last 15 years, she is just like my sister".
The BJP, on the other hand, took no time to launch a sharp attack over the incident and termed Siddaramaiah as the "modern Dushashan of Kaurava government's". Taking a dig at the grand old party, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Rahul Gandhi should tell what he'll do with him. This is a crime, the way he abused her. That's how they see women, they haven't changed since the tandoor case. They only respect women from one family".
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Siddaramaiah misbehaving with a woman: Rahul Gandhi should tell what he'll do with him. This is a crime, the way he abused her. That's how they see women, they haven't changed since the tandoor case. They only respect women from one family. pic.twitter.com/SKyTdgXzHi
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2019
Meanwhile, Congress' Dinesh Gundu Rao, came forward in Siddaramaiah's defence, saying that "when pulling the mic the dupatta came along with. There was no such intention".
Dinesh Gundu Rao,Congress on Siddaramaiah misbehaving with a woman: Sometimes when people start asking questions in a rough way & after hearing them out when they don’t stop, you want to pull the mic. When pulling the mic the dupatta came along with. There was no such intention. pic.twitter.com/69RZdczxjK
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2019
In what could be another big blow to the former chief minister, National Commission for Women (NCW) dashed a letter to Neelmani Raju, DGP of Karnataka, asking for an investigation into the matter.
Being asked about the incident, the woman, however, said that she had no issues and also dubbed Siddaramaiah as the best Chief Minister. Giving a further explanation to media, the woman, identified as Jamala, said, "I only told him about some grievances and spoke roughly. I shouldn't have spoken like that to a former a CM. He got angry because I slammed the table".
