Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, DK Shivakumar, slapped a party member during an election rally in Haveri on Saturday.
As the Congress flags were being waved and chants of “DK, DK” were echoing, the leader stepped out of his SUV, walked a few steps and found an arm around his shoulder. Irked, the Deputy CM gave him a strong whack.
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The incident took place on Saturday night at Savanur in Haveri when Shivakumar was campaigning for party candidate Vinoda Asooti. The video is now going viral.
DK Shivakumar hit Municipal member Allauddin Maniar, who was dressed in a yellow shirt and was smiling when he put his arm around the Congress leader’s shoulders, possibly to get a picture clicked. The move, showed the clip, was met with a strike by Shivakumar.
The man was then pushed back by his security and other party workers present at the election rally.
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A video of the incident was shared by the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and elections in the state are being held in two phases. Voting for 14 seats concluded on April 26 and the remaining 14 seats will undergo polling on May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
(With inputs from agencies)