According to a person with knowledge of the incident, Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, has asked V Somanna, the state’s minister of infrastructure development, for an explanation after he was reportedly seen slapping a woman at a public event.
At a ceremony on Saturday to distribute property title deeds in a village in Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar district, the minister allegedly slapped the woman when she approached him to discuss her complaint. A video of the incident that was captured on camera quickly became popular on social media.
The chief minister’s office has asked the minister to submit an explanation for his outrageous action by Monday, the person quoted above said.
“Deputy Speaker, Anand Mamani passed away on Saturday night and the government and the party are busy with his last rites, otherwise the explanation would have been submitted today itself,” the person added.
Media reports state that the woman pleaded the minister to assign her a plot after alleging that the selection procedure for choosing the recipients of land title deeds was rigged.
However, the minister’s office shared a video in which the woman said she only pleaded a plot be granted to her as she was too poor. “I bowed at his feet with the plea and the minister lifted me consoling me that he would help me but it was publicised that he beat me up,” the woman accompanied by her children said in the video.
Meanwhile, the minister was slammed for his actions by Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh in a tweet in Hindi said a “broom” (the AAP’s election symbol) is needed to rid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of its arrogance that comes from power.