Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday responded sharply to what he believed were comments made by Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, vowing he would “quit politics” if anyone proved he had maintained contact with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reported News18.
According to the report, the dramatic statement came during a press briefing focused on matters related to the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Bengaluru Development Authority.
During the interaction, Shivakumar reacted sharply when journalists reportedly suggested that Kumaraswamy had hinted the Congress government might fall soon and that Shivakumar was allegedly in touch with Shah.
Calling the JD(S) leader a “traitor,” he even warned that he might pursue a defamation case based on what he thought Kumaraswamy had said.
The situation shifted unexpectedly later. Shivakumar’s team checked the remarks attributed to Kumaraswamy and realised that the JD(S) minister had not made those claims at all, as per the report.
At the JD(S) silver jubilee event earlier that day, Kumaraswamy had merely spoken about “explosive developments” ahead and urged party workers to stay engaged with people, without taking the Congress government’s name or mentioning Amit Shah, it is reported.
Once it became clear the claim was 'inaccurate', Shivakumar redirected his anger toward the journalists who had raised the question and accused some reporters of provoking him with incorrect information, trying to create friction between him and Kumaraswamy.
“You will have to repent for this,” he reportedly told them, criticising the media for misquoting the Union minister and misleading him during the press event.
Following the confrontation, the Deputy CM’s office issued a formal statement denouncing the conduct of the reporters who had circulated the questionable information. It noted that Shivakumar was deeply displeased with the false details presented to him and warned that creating and posing questions based on fabricated claims damages the “honour, dignity and trust of the media.”
The statement also requested media houses not to broadcast the controversial segment of the press conference.
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