BENGALURU: Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar on Saturday allegedly slapped a man who attempted to put his arms around him, drawing criticism from the BJP and on social media.
In the video that has since gone viral, Shivakumar can be seen getting irritated by the action of the man, who tried to get close to him and pace along with him.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, who appeared to lose cool, can then be heard telling the man, said to be a party worker: "You should be responsible,"before asking cameramen present there to delete the footage.
The incident took place during his visit to the district headquarters town of Mandya to inquire about the health of ailing veteran leader, former Minister and MP G Made Gowda.
Tweeting the video of the incident, BJP national General Secretary C T Ravi, asked Congress national leader Rahul Gandhi whether he had given "licence for violence" to Shivakumar, whom he referred to as a follower of Kotwal Ramachandra, one of the underworld dons of Bengaluru in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Karnataka CONgress President @DKShivakumar SLAPS his party worker in full public view. If this is how the "former shishya" of Kotwal Ramachandra treats his party worker, one can imagine what he would do with Others. Have you given DKS the "licence for violence", @RahulGandhi?" he asked.
Karnataka BJP, hitting out at Shivakumar for his "behaviour" and calling him "Rowdi DKShi", said he should learn how to conduct himself in public.
Posting a video of an earlier incident where Shivakumar can be seen hitting a youth who was clicking selfies, as he was about to address the media, the BJP in a tweet asked him to quit public life if "underworld-like behaviour" is unavoidable.