Bengaluru, Oct 13 (PTI) Karnataka BJP on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over an incident in which Chief Minister D K Shivakumar was allegedly pushed aside during the opposition’s ‘March for Democracy’ in New Delhi on October 12, terming it an “insult” to the entire state.
Citing a video of the incident, the BJP said Kannadigas will never forgive Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party.
The video clip that has now gone viral on social media shows CM Shivakumar being pushed behind amid the crowd as he tried to walk beside Rahul Gandhi during the march.
Amid the jostling, Shivakumar was pushed behind, as Rahul Gandhi marched ahead.
In a post on ‘X’, the Karnataka BJP said, “Rahul Gandhi called the Chief Minister of Karnataka, who represents 7 crore Kannadigas, to Delhi and insulted him. Preventing him from approaching Rahul Gandhi and pushing him away in such an inhumane manner is a grave insult to the entire state of Karnataka by the Congress party. Kannadigas will never forgive Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party.”
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra denounced the march to the Supreme Court in Delhi as a brazen display of “thuggery, arrogance and slavish loyalty”.
According to him, the political spectacle orchestrated by the Congress was a “shocking display of contempt” for constitutional propriety and democratic institutions, with even the Judiciary seemingly not spared.
“From Rahul Gandhi pulling CM D K Shivakumar by his kurta and pushing him back into the crowd, to elbowing party karyakarthas and the reported physical manhandling of a female journalist, the disturbing visuals speak volumes about the Congress scion’s arrogance, intolerance and sense of entitlement. Classic hallmarks of a dictator!” he said in a post on ‘X’.
“For Rahul Gandhi, nothing appears to matter when it comes to his obsession with the Chair – not the dignity of his own party leaders, not the stature of an elected Chief Minister, not the safety of journalists, and seemingly, not even the institutional boundaries that uphold our democracy,” he said.
Noting that this is the same authoritarian mindset India witnessed five decades ago during the Emergency, when Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother’s government trampled upon democratic freedoms and sought to subjugate institutions, Vijayendra said, “if this is how Rahul Gandhi conducts himself as an Opposition leader, one can only imagine the consequences of handing such people the reins of power.”
“Worse still, marching to the Supreme Court despite the Chief Justice of India declining a meeting raises serious questions about the attempt to turn political frustration into pressure on the highest court of our land. And what was the outcome of this grand political spectacle? A petition reportedly returned with 14 defects,” he said.
Constitutional institutions are not extensions of the Congress party, Vijayendra asserted and said, “The Supreme Court is not a stage for political theatrics, and the Constitution cannot be held hostage to the electoral frustrations of one entitled political dynasty. India’s democracy is bigger than the ambitions of one family. No dynasty is above the Constitution. No political leader is above the law.”
Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya shared the video of Shivakumar being pushed back during the march and said, “if arrogance of inherited privilege, passed down generations, had a face, it would look like this.”
“From Rajiv Gandhi unceremoniously announcing Veerendra Patil’s removal as Karnataka CM at an airport to Rahul Gandhi pulling D K Shivakumar by his kurta in the middle of a road, the Congress dynasty’s sense of entitlement remains unchanged,” he posted on ‘X’.
Politics aside, Shivakumar represents Karnataka, and such public humiliation is an insult to the dignity of 7 crore Kannadigas, he further said, adding that “Rahul Gandhi holds no executive office or constitutional authority over Karnataka’s elected leadership, yet his conduct raises questions about the deference expected towards the Congress high command.”
Responding to a question regarding the incident in which the CM was allegedly pushed, Deputy CM G Parameshwara said managing security during protests and large public gatherings is challenging.
He recalled that he too had experienced similar situations while participating in several protests in the past.
“During a protest, crowd control is not easy. The primary responsibility of the security personnel there was to protect Rahul Gandhi and ensure that people could not easily approach him. Unfortunately, the Chief Minister also moved towards that area and was slightly pushed amid the crowd,” he explained.
Even though a Chief Minister is entitled to protocol, security personnel in such circumstances prioritise the protection of the person assigned to them, irrespective of whether another individual approaching is a Chief Minister or another dignitary, the Deputy CM added. PTI KSU ROH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.