‘She’s Like a Sister’: Siddaramaiah on Row Over Shouting at Woman

A viral video showed the former Karnataka CM shouting at a woman at a public meeting.

Screenshot of the video where Siddaramaiah can be seen shouting at the woman.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

A few hours after a video of him shouting at a woman at a public meeting went viral on social media, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday, 28 January, said the incident was an accident and has been misconstrued. He also added that the woman – Jamalar, a former Congress Taluk Panchayat officer – was like a sister to him.

What the Video Shows

In the video that was shot at a public meeting in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah and Jamalar can be seen getting into a war of words. Siddaramaiah can be seen snatching the microphone from the woman’s hands and telling her to stop talking.

The woman can be heard saying that this was the first time she had got the chance to meet the leader and that he had only come due to the upcoming elections. She can then be seen slamming the table in agitation, after which the Congress leader is seen losing his cool and asking her to sit down and keep quiet. 

‘Have No Issues With Him, I Shouldn’t Have Spoken That Way’

Jamala later told ANI, “I've no issues, he was the best CM. I only told him about some grievances and spoke roughly. I shouldn't have spoken like that to a former a CM. He got angry because I slammed the table.”

The incident took place at Varuna taluk’s Gargeshwari village in Mysuru where Siddaramaiah had gone to attend a Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation programme, reported The News Minute. Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra, the local MLA from Varuna, can also be seen in the video – trying to calm down the leader.

In an interview to News9, Jamalar had said she was angry that Siddaramaiah had come to Mysuru and nobody had informed her.

“I keep telling the Panchayat and taluk members to inform me when Varuna MLA (Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra) comes here. But they never do so. I wanted to inform Siddaramaiah of the same which is when I banged my hand on the table,” The News Minute quoted her as saying

‘What Will Rahul Do About It?’

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said it was up to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to decide the next course of action.

“Rahul Gandhi should tell what he'll do with him. This is a crime, the way he abused her. That's how they see women, they haven't changed since the tandoor case. They only respect women from one family,” reported ANI.

National Commission for Women Takes Cognisance of the Matter

The National Commission for Women tweeted that they had taken cognisance of the incident and demanded a thorough inquiry and appropriate action as per law.

ANI also reported that NCW had already written to Neelamani Raju, DGP of Karnataka, regarding the same.

BJP Karnataka’s Twitter handle listed a number of recent incidents involving the Congress and JD(S) leaders and their alleged disrespect towards women.

Bengaluru BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali also tweeted about the “dark face of Congress Political hooliganism.”

Congress Jumps to Siddaramaiah’s Defence

KPCC president and MLA Dinesh Gundo Rao defended the former chief minister.

“Sometimes when people start asking questions in a rough way & after hearing them out when they don’t stop, you want to pull the mic. When pulling the mic the dupatta came along with. There was no such intention.”

Dinesh Gundo Rao to ANI