Cong slams BJP on attack over Siddaramaiah incident

Bengaluru: The Congress slammed the BJP for its attack over former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s alleged misbehavior with a woman at an event, saying it does not have the moral, constitutional or political right to talk about women’s issues.

Siddaramaiah landed in a controversy Monday when he snatched the microphone from a woman during a verbal duel resulting in her dupatta getting dislodged at an event in Varuna in Mysuru.

As he faced flak, the senior Congress leader later said the incident was accidental, devoid of any mal-intent and that the woman was like his sister.

Attacking the Congress over the incident, the BJP said it shows how much the opposition party respects women and demanded that Rahul Gandhi take action against the former Karnataka chief minister.

Responding to BJP’s criticism, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “We consider it to be fairly rich when the BJP expresses concern about the rights of women in this country.” 

“A government which spends 65 per cent of the budgetary outlay on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao on just publicity of the programme, I do not think has the moral, or the constitutional, or the political right (to raise such issues).

“The acronym stands for MCP to talk about women’s empowerment,” he said.

Tewari, however, said the Congress was of the view that people in public life need to be sensitive about the manner in which they treat colleagues especially if they belong to another gender.

The incident which occurred during a public interaction organised by Siddaramaiah, his MLA son Yathindra who represents Varuna assembly constituency, and others, was caught on camera with the video of it going viral.