Former Karnataka chief minister P.C. Siddaramaiah landed himself in a spot on Monday when he lost his cool at a village-level interaction and snatched the microphone from a woman, inadvertently pulling down her dupatta in the process.
The Congress leader, who was meeting local people and party workers in Gargeshwari village in Mysore district, later tweeted saying what happened was an “accident”.
The woman, Jamalar, a party worker, also played down the incident.
“He is a very good man. But I think he got angry when I banged on the table,” she told reporters in Mysore.
The opposition BJP was quick to pounce on the incident, comparing Siddaramaiah to “Dhushyasana”, the Kaurava prince who had disrobed Draupadi in the Mahabharat.
Siddaramaiah was taking questions from local people in Gargeshwari in what was essentially a good photo-op for him and his son Yathindra, the MLA from Varuna. The village is part of the constituency.
When her turn came, Jamalar said that Yathindra had not visited the village since last year’s elections and complained about lack of development in the constituency.
Video clips played by Kannada channels showed Jamalar complaining that she had no idea when even Siddaramaiah visited his house in Varuna.
“Nobody has come to visit us,” Jamalar can be seen telling Siddaramaiah in the purported clips.
When Siddaramaiah, who was seated across a table, asked her whether the MLA had not met the people, she is heard saying: “He has met us now. The last time was during the election.”
Siddaramaiah, who seems agitated, is then heard telling Jamalar to “sit down”.
But he appears to have lost his cool after Jamalar thumped the table to drive home her point about lack of development in the area.
“Get out,” he rasped when she pressed on with her complaint.
But Jamalar stood up again, microphone in hand. It was at this point that Siddaramaiah got up and snatched the microphone from her.
As Jamalar was holding both the dupatta and the microphone with her left hand, Siddaramaiah ended up partly pulling down the garment as well.
Jamalar wrapped herself up quickly, as only one end of the dupatta had slipped, but footage of the incident went viral within minutes.
“Demon Dhushyasana is finally reborn & resumed power in govt of Karnataka,” the BJP tweeted.
The state Congress, which rules Karnataka with ally JDS, protested the insinuation. “To imply any such intension is really horrifying. That’s not the way Siddaramaiah behaved,” state party chief Dinesh Gundu Rao said.
“After hearing her for quite some time, Siddaramaiah just wanted to take the microphone from her,” Rao added.
“The lady was interested in speaking for a long time and she even banged on the table. So he was only trying to tell her to sit down.”
Siddaramaiah tweeted: “The incident that happened when I tried to stop our party worker for taking more time, was an accident. I know that woman for more than 15 years now & she is like my sister.”
Jamalar said Siddaramaiah was a “good chief minister and did good work” but insisted that local leaders never informed her when the MLA visited the area. “I just wanted to inform him that nobody informs me. That’s when I banged the table,” she said.
She also said Siddaramaiah had received her by shaking hands, trying to play down the episode.
Jamalar also said Siddaramaiah had received her by shaking hands, as she sought to play down the incident.