11 months ago
19
It was campaign fever at its peak. Congress flags were thrashing the night air and there were chants of "DK", "DK" as the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister (DK Shivakumar) is popularly known. As the leader stepped out of his SUV, and walked a few steps, he found an arm around his shoulder. Irked, the leader gave the person a big thwack.
The incident, which took place on Saturday night, is from Savanur in Haveri. The video, in internet speak, is now going viral.
Municipal Member Allauddin Maniar, dressed in yellow shirt and smiling, put his arm around the Congress leader's shoulders, as a man in front was ready to take a picture of the two, showed a video. The move, showed the clip, was immediately met with a strike by Mr Sivakumar.
The man, who continued to sport an awkward smile, was then pushed away by the security and other supporters.
Mr Shivakumar, 61, visibly annoyed, gesticulates him to step away. The man, now pushed back, joins the supporters as the leader continued his march.
The Congress leader was in Haveri to campaign for party candidate Vinoda Asooti.
Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and elections in the state are being held in two phases. Voting for 14 seats concluded on April 26 and the remaining 14 seats will undergo polling on May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
In 2019, the BJP almost swept the state by winning 25 out of 28 seats, while Congress and JD-S - who were alliance partners in the state - could only win one seat each.
This time, the BJP and JD-S are in coalition with the former fighting on 25 seats, while the latter is contesting three seats.
The JDS is hamstrung by the huge sexual assault allegations against Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of HD Deve Gowda. Amid public outcry, Mr Revanna, who is abroad, has been suspended by his party.
HD Kumaraswamy, Prajwal's uncle, accused DK Shivakumar of hatching a conspiracy of circulating the videos in public and then setting up an SIT to investigate the matter.
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