Karnataka Energy minister and senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar was seen slapping a young man who was trying to take a selfie with him. The incident happened in Bellary where the Congress minister was attending a public event. The man, hopeful of taking a selfie, had stepped up near him and took out his cellphone to click an image. Shivakumar noticed the man standing near him and slapped his hand which made him drop his phone.
Beware: Take Selfies With #Karnataka Minister DK Shivkumar At Your Own Risk https://t.co/osXc6ciU0I pic.twitter.com/359Ee50CAR
— Outlook Magazine (@Outlookindia) February 5, 2018
This was not the first time the minister has shown his arrogance in public. In November last year, he had behaved in a similar manner when another person tried to take a selfie with him. That time too, the video had gone viral on social media and he had faced severe criticism.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxSUsy70jTY]
Furthermore, Shivkumar had gone ahead to dismiss it as a ‘normal incident’.
Shivkumar came in news in August last year when the Income Tax department had raided his properties and premises of people linked with him in Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi. The raids continued for three days where Congress party had alleged that the central government is using the IT department as a weapon against its ministers.
Earlier in August 2017, Shivakumar had hosted 42 Congress MLAs in his ‘Eagleton-The Golf Village’ resort where the Congress party had flown them in order to avoid defection before Rajya Sabha polls. IT department had arrived in the resort and had taken Shivakumar for questioning. The Congress party had created a ruckus in the Parliament over the issue and had alleged that BJP was on a witch hunt against its party members. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in the parliament that Shivakumar had tried to tear off some important documents when I-T department arrived and the I-T officials managed to recover those documents.
Shivkumar’s behaviour has seen criticism in the social media .
Not once this @INCIndia Minister @DKShivakumar at it again. Height of Arrogance pic.twitter.com/1sNXie6Ox5
— Suresh N (@surnell) February 5, 2018
The BJP and Congress are in intense campaigning mode for the Karnataka assembly elections and the minister’s behaviour in the public has brewed fresh troubles for Congress.