Bengaluru: Karnataka PWD minister and JDS leader HD Revanna besides local Congress leaders were left red-faced on Friday when Congress workers straightaway refused to support his son Prajwal Revanna in the Lok Sabha polls at an event in Hassan.
Prajwal, the grandson of JDS patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, is the candidate of the ruling alliance for Hassan, which Gowda was representing.
The embarrassing incident occurred in front of Revanna who had come to seek support from Congress workers at a public event.
An ardent believer in astrology, Revanna had arrived at the venue holding seven to eight lemons in his hand to ward off bad omen that could eclipse his son's political prospects. Usually, Revanna carries at least one lemon with him.
As soon as he took his seat on the dais holding lemons, the Congress workers created a din shouting that they would prefer voting for the BJP rather than supporting the JD(S).
The compere's repeated pleas to stay silent were in vain as the rebel Congress workers created a noisy scene.
They shouted that they will not abide by the Congress' directions.
"We are die-hard Congress workers. We will not support the JD(S), come what may. We will not only vote for BJP, we will seek vote for the BJP candidate," they shouted.
The workers also objected to Revanna's presence at the Congress' event.
"Who is he to attend our event? Why is he here? He is our opponent. How can we support him? We don't need him here," they shouted.
Policemen too reached there to calm the situation but to no avail as the sloganeering continued. The rebellion stems from the fact that Congress local strongman A Manju recently quit the party protesting the alliance with the JD(S) and joined the BJP, which has fielded him as its candidate.
Manju's bitterness against the Deve Gowda family is well known as he had been giving statements against the JD(S) leadership.
From the day the coalition government was formed, Manju had been openly opposing it. He had even indicated that he would not stay in the party for long if the coalition continued.
Gowda has represented Hassan six times in the Lok Sabha.
This time, he has opted to contest the polls from Tumkur constituency leaving Hassan for his grandson Prajwal. Gowda's another grandson and son of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Nikhil, is also facing problems in Mandya, where the local Congress unit is unhappy over the party conceding the seat to the JDS.
With tempers running high, Revanna sought an apology from the Congress workers.
Addressing the irate workers, he said, "Pardon me if I have committed some small mistakes. Let us work together to ensure victory. Let us stick to the decision taken by the party."
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