"Has a patent on crying," says Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru, Nov 28: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said his family has got a patent on crying as he took objection to Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda's comment that shedding tears during election was their family business.
"I will say that our family has a patent over it (shedding tears). Ours is a life of emotions and tears are an expression of pain in our hearts, Kumaraswamy told reporters at Hunsur.
While campaigning for the JD(S) candidate contesting the assembly bypoll, Kumaraswamy burst into tears at Kikkeri in KR Pet segment on Wednesday, saying people of Mandya had deserted him by defeating his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year.
Commenting on Kumaraswamy turning emotional, Sadananda Gowda had cautioned people against the "flood of tears."
He said the flood caused by tears is more dangerous than the flood that ravaged 22 districts of Karnataka in August and October.
The union minister even termed that shedding tears during election is the tradition of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's family.
Dear Sadananda Gowda, I don’t know how to cry applying Vicks or glycerine. I cry when I see the poor people in tears, Kumaraswamy said.
He challenged Sadananda Gowda to explain how many flood-hit people did he assist.
How many poor people come to your house and how many of them secured any relief from you? Come to our house or send your intelligence team from the Centre.
Even after 70 years of independence, there are people coming to us without food and clothes. When I see them I get upset, Kumaraswamy said.
"Sadananda Gowda had said in his statement that people earlier used to watch drama for 100 days or 200 days.
Yes, you will say so because you come from the region where dramas are played, said Kumaraswamy commenting on the coastal Karnataka region where the minister hails from and where Yaksha Gana form of classical dance-drama is popular.
State Tourism minister C T Ravi too called Kumaraswamy an accomplished actor while taking a jibe at the JD(S) leader for shedding tears while campaigning.
"Film actors too do not tear up without glycerine though it is their profession. Only an accomplished actor can shed tears without it," he said.
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Excise scam allegation: Bhajans, sloganeering mark Opposition's overnight protest in Assembly
Bengaluru (PTI): Bhajans, religious chants, and sloganeering dominated the overnight agitation carried out by Opposition BJP and JD(S) MLAs inside the Karnataka Assembly premises.
The BJP and JD(S) MLAs have been staging protests, demanding Excise Minister R B Timmapur's resignation, since Tuesday night.
The Opposition has alleged widespread corruption in the Excise Department, saying that bribe is being demanded for issuing liquor licences.
Opposition leader R Ashoka alleged that there was a scam to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore in the department.
He also alleged that the money was being used by the ruling Congress to fund the party in the poll-bound states.
The recent trigger was the arrest of Excise Deputy Commissioner of the Bengaluru Urban District Jagadeesh Naik and two other officials by the Lokayukta sleuths, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh on January 16.
According to Lokayukta officials, they were accused of demanding Rs 80 lakh to issue CL-7 (Hotels & Boarding Houses) and micro brewery licence.
While replying to the Opposition’s charges, the minister said that he had taken steps to reduce corruption in his department. He also said that "corruption is not a new phenomenon in my department".
Timmapur has also declined the BJP's demand for his resignation, saying no ministers during the BJP government had ever stepped down.
The BJP leaders held a demonstration on the steps outside the Assembly hall, and they later slept inside the Assembly.
Playing tambourines, the MLAs raised slogans demanding Timmapur's resignation.
They also sang devotional chants like 'Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram'.
The opposition MLAs also held a meeting to draw their next course of action.
In the morning, some MLAs, including BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, who represents Shikaripura Assembly constituency, did exercises and went for a walk on the Vidhana Soudha premises.
The BJP MLAs have said they will continue their agitation inside the Assembly until Timmapur resigns.
