BENGALURU: Opposition leader Siddaramaiah was so engrossed in a debate on the functioning of the police force in the Assembly on Wednesday, that little did he realise his ‘panche’ (mundu) had come off! The former CM, however, took it sportingly and blamed weight gain for it.
Even as Siddaramaiah was speaking, state Congress president DK Shivakumar, who noticed the wardrobe malfunction, went up to him and whispered in his ears about his ‘panche’ having fallen down. To everyone’s surprise, Siddaramaiah, reacted saying, “Oh, is that so?”. Then, he himself announced that he would continue his speech after tying up his panche, evoking mirth and laughter all around.
This prompted Madhu Bangarappa, who was in the Chair, to remark, “It’s tricky if you yourself disclose what the issue is.” Then again, Siddaramaiah, addressing the RDPR Minister, said, “My panche has come off, Eshwarappa. Of late, my paunch has increased and my ‘panche’ keeps coming off,” even as the bemused minister looked on. When a member from the treasury benches offered help, he responded saying, “Since you are sitting on the other side, I will not ask you for help...”
Congress MLA and former Speaker Ramesh Kumar intervened to say, “Our president (referring to KPCC president Shivakumar) wanted to save the image of the party and Siddaramaiah’s and whispered. But Siddaramaiah announced it to the entire House. People from BJP will be waiting to dent our image and this happened,’’ he said on a lighter note.
Replying to him, Siddaramaiah said, “They (BJP) cannot do anything to our image”.