Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar clarified that Rahul Gandhi did not push him during the Delhi protest (Photo credit: X)
He showed concern for me by suggesting that I board the vehicle following behind, as the crowd of protesters was large,” Shivakumar said. In a post on X, the state BJP said Gandhi had “called the chief minister of Karnataka, who represents 7 crore Kannadigas, to Delhi and insulted him”. “Rahul Gandhi did not push me during the protest held in Delhi.
NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday dismissed claims that Rahul Gandhi pushed him aside during Monday’s protest march in Delhi, as the Congress and the BJP traded barbs over a viral video of the incident.
It added that Kannadigas “will never forgive Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party”. He recalled Rajiv Gandhi’s announcement of Veerendra Patil’s removal as Karnataka chief minister at an airport, saying the Congress dynasty’s “sense of entitlement remains unchanged”, PTI reported.
Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, responding to queries, said crowd management during protests was difficult and recalled facing similar situations in the past. Unfortunately, the chief minister also moved towards that area and was slightly pushed amid the crowd,” he said. “The primary responsibility of the security personnel there was to protect Rahul Gandhi and ensure that people could not easily approach him.