Karnataka minister K S Eshwarappa attacks Congress leaders, apologises later

PTI, Aug 10, 2021, 5:07 PM IST

Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday courted controversy by making some objectionable remarks against Congress leaders which drew a strong response from the opposition party. Moments later he apologized for his utterance and asked the media not to play it up.

At a press conference, he attacked Congress and used an objectionable term. “…Why I am using this term is because they don’t have any idea what to utter and what to omit,” Eshwarappa, who holds the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio, said. Eshwarappa’s outburst was following a query from a journalist that someone from Congress had called him (the minister) a joker. To buttress his point, the minister said Congress leader Siddaramaiah had demanded that a Dalit leader should be made chief minister.

“Since independence the Congress had been in power but why they did not make any Dalit a chief minister. Should we give them any weightage?” Eshwarappa said. “Let them say now who is joker whether Congress, BJP or Eshwarappa?” he said. Taking strong exception, former chief minister Siddaramaiah described Eshwarappa as a man lacking culture. “Only a man without culture can use such words. Eshwarappa does not have culture,” Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru. The minister’s outburst also drew sharp reaction from senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad. “I appeal to Health Minister K Sudhakar to get Eshwara admitted to NIMHANS, the world famous mental and neurological institute located in Bengaluru, at the earliest and get him the best treatment there,” Hariprasad said. The minister was in the news when he said during a party workers’ meet at Shivamogga on Sunday that the BJP workers were capable of giving back in equal measure, when rivals attacked them.