MANGALURU: BJP MLA D Vedavyas Kamath has been booked for allegedly making controversial remarks and instigating his party men to assault some Congress workers during a temple event at Padavu Shakthinagar in Mangaluru on Sunday night.
A complaint filed by Congress worker Yashvantha Prabhu at the Kankanady Town police station stated that Kamath questioned him and two others about their presence in the event, calling them stone throwers at temples. When they confronted him, BJP workers allegedly assaulted them and tore Prabhu’s clothes, the complaint states.
The BJP workers filed a counter-complaint against Prabhu under the SC/ST Atrocity Act, alleging that he assaulted one of them, Mani.
On Monday, Congress and BJP leaders blamed each other. District Congress Committee president K Harish Kumar alleged that Kamath behaved like a “goonda” and asked him to mend his ways.
He alleged that when Prabhu was admitted to Wenlock Hospital, former mayor Diwakar and others barged in and created a ruckus. “Our patience should not be mistaken as weakness. We are keeping quiet as we have trust in the police,” said Kumar.
BJP spokesperson Rajagopal Rai said Kamath ‘jokingly’ passed some remarks, but denied saying anything objectionable. He alleged that the Congress government has made it a habit to book false cases against opposition MLAs.