BJP vs Congress: Ashwathnarayan, DK Suresh public feud in Ramanagara goes viral [details]

Rivalry between Congress and BJP, especially in the peak of an election season, usually takes the turn for the worse, but instead of blunt jibes, social media campaigns and criticism, the incident at a Ramanagara public event has shocked everyone. Karnataka IT/BT minister CN Ashwathnarayan and Congress Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh had a blown-out altercation on stage on Monday.

The incident took place at an event organised by the government to unveil the statues of Dr BR Ambedkar and founder of Bengaluru Kempegowda and for the implementation of various programmes in the city. Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai was also present at the event, marking his first appearance in Ramanagar as the chief minister.

What led to the altercation?

DK Suresh and Dr CN Ashwathnarayan had an altercation, just short of a fist fight, when the latter talked about the projects carried out in the region by the BJP government without credit to Congress leaders. Suresh registered his objection and confronted the state minister.

In the video, which has since gone viral, shows the Congress MP charging towards Ashwathnarayan just before he was stopped by the security personnel. Besides Suresh, Congress MLC S Ravi tried to stop the former Dy CM from speaking by dismounting the microphone. Later, Suresh, who is the lone Congress Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka, sat down on the stage in protest.

Seeing the feud, Bommai, who appeared embossed by the development, gestured at Ashwathnarayan to conclude his speech. Karnataka CM took the mic and addressed to the crowd saying, "I have come here to contribute to development. And, development will happen with everybody's cooperation and not by one individual" while urging not to mix politics with development.