Mahesh Kumathalli, Athani MLA, courted controversy on Saturday after his reportedly flippant talk about flood-affected people, caught on camera, went viral on social media.
In one video clip, Mr. Kumathalli, who quit the Congress to get re-elected on the BJP ticket, is seen asking a person in a flood-affected area in Athani taluk to also give him a “quarter”. In the other one shot at a guest house, Mr. Kumathalli is seen expressing his “tough situation”. He is seen telling his followers that there were too many issues and he felt like throwing his cell phone away and going to sleep, fed up of calls from flood-affected people.
The video clips shot during his visit to flood-affected areas and one while speaking to his followers some time ago put the ministerial aspirant in an embarrassing situation as the viral videos evoked strong reactions.
Following widespread criticism, Mr. Kumathalli issued a statement apologising for his remarks and said he should not have spoken like that. He also said at that point of time he had just recovered from COVID-19 and had only spoken about how he felt at that point in time and did not want to hurt anyone.
