A video showing a Congress worker, with the Tiranga in his hands, taking off shoes from the feet of Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday sparked an outage and prompted an attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The incident took place as the Karnataka CM arrived in Karnataka’s capital city, Bengaluru, to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. A man present at the spot took the flag from the worker’s hands as he continued removing the shoes.
#WATCH | Bengaluru: A Congress worker, with the Tiranga in his hands, removed shoes from the feet of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah earlier today as he arrived to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. A man present at the spot, removed the flag from the worker’s… pic.twitter.com/rjT1AJTXsp
— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2024
Following the incident, the BJP accused Siddaramaiah of “insulting the nation’s pride.” He is already being attacked by the saffron party and its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular), over his alleged involvement in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) ‘scam’.
On Wednesday, during an event organized in Bengaluru to pay respect to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, the Karnataka CM stood and waited as a worker of the grand old party took off his shoes.
In the video, the Congress worker was seen holding a small tricolor in his left hand as he was taking off Siddaramaiah’s shoe, and a person who appears to be part of his security team can be seen taking the flag from him. Senior BJP leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy reacted to the incident and said that it was an insult and showed the Congress’ “culture.” “It’s an insult to the Nation’s pride, this is the culture of Congress party leaders, they must apologise to the Nation,” Reddy said in a post on X.
It’s insult to Nation’s pride,this is the culture of Congress party leaders, they must apologise to the Nation
— Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy (Modi Ka Parivar) (@ReddySudhakar21) October 2, 2024
The video has also sparked outrage among some people on social media, who called it distasteful and said that the national flag should be respected.