The controversy over alleged verbal abuse of senior Congress Leader B. Janardhana Poojary by Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology B. Ramanath Rai is refusing to die down. Mr. Poojary’s confidante and former spokesperson of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Harikrishna Bantwal on Tuesday challenged Mr. Rai to take a vow in front of Lord Manjunatha Swamy in Dharmasthala saying that he did not abuse Mr. Poojary.
Following the allegation by Mr. Bantwal last week that Mr. Rai had abused Mr. Poojary at a marriage function on February 6, Mr. Rai denied it on Monday and said there was no proof of him having abused Mr. Poojary.
Standing firm on his charge, Mr. Bantwal told reporters on Tuesday that Mr. Rai had indeed abused Mr. Poojary in front of the former District Youth Congress president Arun Coelho and State Youth Congress Secretary Tejaswi Raj at the marriage party. Mr. Bantwal said that the controversy will come to an end if Mr. Rai takes a vow in Dharmasthala.
“I will give one week’s time to Mr. Rai to take the vow,” he said. Mr. Bantwal said that he will also appear before the deity with witness to the reported abuse. Mr. Bantwal said that he preferred approaching Lord Manjunatha Swamy than take legal recourse against the reported abuse of Mr. Poojary by Mr. Rai.
Mr. Bantwal, who has now been expelled from the Congress, played before the media a video clip of a statement given to some Kannada news channels by Mr. Coelho in which he admits to Mr. Rai abusing Mr. Poojary.
Criticising Mr. Rai for his statement that he sat in New Delhi in 2014 to get Mr. Poojary’s candidature for the Dakshina Kananda Parliament seat, Mr. Bantwal said that Mr. Poojary’s candidature was approved following internal election in the district party unit in which Mr. Poojary secured 462 votes as against 66 secured by Kanachur Monu. “Where is the case of Mr. Rai sitting in New Delhi,” he said. Mr. Bantwal, also a former general secretary of the District Congress Committee, accused Mr. Rai of keeping Mr. Poojary out of the party affairs.
