Belagavi: Dramatic scenes were witnessed at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, a border town 500km north of Bengaluru, on Thursday when a group of supporters of Women and Child Welfare Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar allegedly tried to manhandle BJP MLC and former BJP national general secretary C T Ravi accusing him of making an obscene remark against the minister.
Hebbalkar's supporters allegedly barged into the Suvarna Soudha crashing the security and tried to attack Ravi while he was returning after meeting opposition leader R Ashoka. Around 25 people have been taken into custody by the police. They also raised slogans against Ravi. The marshalls who were on duty at the time of the incident protected Ravi from Hebbalkar’s supporters and took him away.
A few minutes earlier, Ravi's car was also attacked outside the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha. The incident was triggered after Hebbalkar accused Ravi of making an obscene remark against her during a protest in the Legislative Council over Union Minister Amit Shah's statement about Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and filed a complaint with Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti seeking action against the latter. Horatti is expected to give his ruling later in the day.
Sources said that after the house was adjourned in the morning, Ravi and Hebbalkar engaged in an argument over a remark by Ravi against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. During the argument, Ravi allegedly made derogatory remarks against the lone woman minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet. Siddaramaiah also condemned the remarks saying they attract criminal proceedings.
After escaping from the supporters of Hebbalkar, Ravi sat on dharna in Suvarna Soudha seeking action against the attackers. He also filed a complaint with Horatti.
"Some goons enter the highly protected Suvarna Soucha and try to attack an MLC. This shows the law and order has collapsed in the state," he said while dismissing allegations against him as false and fabricated. "I have not made any obscene comments on Hebbalkar. Let them check video and audio footage of the council proceedings,” Ravi said.
Following complaints from both sides, Horatti ordered a review of video and audio recordings of the house proceedings to verify the minister’s claims. But it is being said that the microphones were turned off immediately after the adjournment.
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