HAVERI: DCM DK Shivakumar allegedly slapped a local Congress leader during campaigning at Savanur on Saturday night.
When he arrived to campaign for party Haveri candidate Vinod Asuti, many party workers rushed towards him, raised slogans and started dancing. Savanur Town Municipal member Allauddin Maniyar tried to put his hands on Shivakumar, when the DCM glared at him before slapping the local representative.
A video of the incident went viral on social media sites. Some Congress leaders said Maniyar was only trying to protect Shivakumar from the surging crowd of supporters and was not putting his hands across the top leader. Shivakumar misunderstood his intention and slapped him, they added. The police too arrived at the spot, hit the local leader and pushed him aside.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi posted on X, “Our PM Narendra Modi called India as one parivar and Karnataka DCM slapped town municipal members and pushed him away. Gandhiji said that if any slaps show another side of the face but DK Shivakumar did not give him this opportunity. This is Congress culture.”