HASSAN: It was an unusual day for Union Minister for Petroleum Hardeep Singh Puri, who was in Hassan district to attend Bharat Viksit Yatra on Monday.
Even as his motorcade was speeding on the stretch leading to Halekote in Holenarasipur taluk, where the event was scheduled, it came to a screeching halt at Haradanahalli, the hometown of JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda. Standing next to the road, in front of the local Deveshwara temple, was Gowda’s son, former minister and JDS leader HD Revanna with a garland in his hand to greet Puri. The special gesture was to honour the new-found camaraderie between BJP and JDS, which have now partnered to contest Lok Sabha elections.
Revanna went up to the minister’s vehicle, presented him with the garland and a shawl. Puri graciously accepted the offering and sped towards Halekote as he was getting late.
When he reached the village, Puri was furious that his convoy had to make an unscheduled stop. Sitting on the dais, he pulled up the security personnel in the pilot and escort vehicles for the security failure. He questioned the personnel as to why the convoy was stopped. “Who asked you to stop the vehicle? Was there any official communication to do so? You people wasted my precious time,” he berated them.
He directed his personal secretary to collect the names, designations and details of the staff deployed for his security. Even as Puri charged at his security staff, Revanna, seated next to him, kept looking straight, without uttering a word.