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Koli community members leave Kovind shaken during his visit to City

  • NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind was in Bengaluru to seek support of BJP lawmakers
  • Kovind’s visit witnessed tense moments after his meeting with BJP leaders 
  • He refused to be felicitated by Koli community members and leaves the City hurriedly
  • Irked, the community members tried to assault BJP leader Aravind Limbavali leading to a minor scuffle
     
Koli community members leave Kovind shaken during his visit to City

NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind’s tour in the Southern States, which he embarked upon on July 1, had remained largely uneventful. His visit to Karnataka was however marked with tense moments, ironically involving his own community people.

Representatives of the Koli community in Karnataka were enthused to meet Kovind (who belongs to the community) during his visit to Bengaluru on Wednesday. Upon learning that he would be addressing BJP lawmakers at a private hotel, they made a beeline to the venue to meet him. However what followed later, has left the BJP red faced.

The community members had waited patiently for nearly three hours for Kovind to finish his meeting with the BJP leaders. When they finally got the chance, they rushed to the dais to felicitate him, catching the presidential nominee unawares. Kovind however refused to be feliciated. Upon sensing his discomfort, BJP general secretaries Aravind Limbavali and Shobha Karandlaje tried to stop the members from crowding him. When they failed to heed to their requests, Limbavali pushed a few of them away. The incident led to Kovind leaving the venue hurriedly. He was escorted by BJP State president B S Yeddyurappa and Union Minister Ananth Kumar.

Limbavali was however unprepared for what followed later. The minute he walked out of the hotel, the community members surrounded him and started berating him. They even made an attempt to assault him. But a few BJP members and a couple of constables came to his rescue. The BJP leader was hurriedly driven away. Further angered, the members staged a protest in front of the hotel. When BJP MP Pralhad Joshi tried to pacify the crowd, they vented their against him as well.

Conceding that there was a minor scuffle, the BJP however clarified that nobody was assaulted. Rajagopal Reddy, vice president of the BJP OBC Morcha said that the members were prevented from felicitating Kovind, owing to his prior engagements. "It is true that some of our people expressed their anger and disappointment. But no untoward incident has occurred. Limbavali was not assaulted. He is our leader and we don't have any negative feelings against him," he added.

Earlier, Kovind was received at the HAL airport by Yeddyurappa and other leaders. The BJP leaders felicitated him with a sandalwood engraved Mysuru Palace. He addressed the party MPs, MLAs and MLCs in a closed door meeting, where he sought them to cast their votes for him during the elections scheduled on July 17. 

In his speech, he showered praises on Kannadigas for their “peace loving” nature. He also said that as he had travelled in a few districts of the State on earlier occasions, he was aware of the atmosphere in Karnataka. 

Speaking to the media, Karandlaje said that Kovind would become the next President, as he was assured more than 70 per cent of votes. In Karnataka too he enjoyed good support, as MLAs from BSR Congress too endorsing his candidature, she said.   

Kovind has been assured the support of BSR Congress MLAs -- P Rajeev (Kudachi), T H Suresh Babu (Kampli), S Thippeswamy (Molakalmuru), and Independent MLA from Kudligi, B Nagendra. The quartet belong to the Janardhan Reddy camp. 
 
 

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