Indian politician slaps party worker for trying to put arms around him

MANDYA: The Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar has faced severe criticism after slapping a party worker in public after getting irritated from his attempt to put his arms around him.

According to the Indian media reports, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar slapped a party worker who attempted to put his arms around him when he was visiting Mandya to inquire after the health of an ailing farmers’ leader on Friday.

The moment was caught on camera which showed the politician immediately reacted to the action of the man who tried to put arms around him. Suddenly, the Congress president slapped him in the face.

Shivakumar was heard saying in the viral video that he cannot do this if he was given the freedom. The politician reportedly asked the cameramen who were present on the site to delete the footage.

The Congress president later tried to defend his action before the Indian journalists on Sunday and said that there was no need to make it a big issue out of it as the person is his relative.

#WATCH Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar slaps a party worker for trying to put his hand on his shoulder in Mandya yesterday pic.twitter.com/6ldIB08mdw

— ANI (@ANI) July 10, 2021

Shivakumar claimed that the person who was slapped in the face was a family member and there is no need to make it a big issue as that was actually bonding between them. “We are related, so I slapped and told him to remove his hand. It happens in relationships.”

The reports said that DK Shivakumar had also slapped another man in public in 2018 during an election campaign in Bellary when he tried to take a selfie with him.