Bangalore:
It was campaign fever at its height. Congress flags flew in the night sky and there were chants of “DK”, “DK”, as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka (DK Shivakumar) is popularly known. As the leader got out of his SUV and walked a few steps, he found an arm around his shoulder. Irritated, the leader gave the person a good blow.
The incident, which took place on Saturday evening, takes place in Savanur in Haveri. The video, in internet parlance, is now going viral.
Congregant Allauddin Maniar, wearing a yellow shirt and smiling, put his arm around the Congress leader's shoulders, while a man stood at the front ready to take a photo of the two, and showed a video. This move, the video showed, was immediately met with a strike from Mr Sivakumar.
The man, who continued to flash an awkward smile, was then pushed away by security and other supporters.
Mr Shivakumar, 61, visibly irritated, gestures for him to step away. The man, now pushed back, joins the supporters as the leader continues 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 held in two phases. Voting for 14 seats was completed on April 26 and the remaining 14 seats will be voted on May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
In 2019, the BJP almost won the state by winning 25 of the 28 seats, while the Congress and JD-S — who were alliance partners in the state — could win only one seat each.
This time, the BJP and JD-S are in a coalition with the former contesting 25 seats while the latter contests three seats.
The JDS is paralyzed by the massive sexual abuse allegations against HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna. Amid public outrage, Mr Revanna, who is abroad, has been suspended by his party.
HD Kumaraswamy, Prajwal's uncle, accused DK Shivakumar of hatching a conspiracy to circulate the videos in public and then setting up an SIT to investigate the matter.