Tumakuru Rural BJP MLA caught on camera assaulting toll plaza manager

Bengaluru, Mar 14: In a fresh embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, one of its MLAs was caught on camera assaulting the manager of a toll plaza on the Bengaluru-Mumbai highway.

A CCTV clip, which went viral on Tuesday, clearly shows Suresh Gowda, the BJP MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency entering the toll booth office at Kyathasandra along with his supporters on Friday and slapping toll plaza manager Mallikarjun.

According to the toll booth staff, the MLA got miffed because of the delay in allowing his car to pass through the toll plaza. Gowda was not available for his comment, but his office staff maintained that he only warned the toll booth manager against causing undue delays whenever his vehicle passed through the toll booth. His office staff denied any attack or ransacking of the toll booth.

But in an interesting turn of events, toll manager Mallikarjun denied being assaulted by the MLA. Barely an hour after the CCTV clip was leaked to the media, Mallikarjun said: "The MLA did not attack me, he is my friend. We know each other for several years. He was only wishing me, I would have lodged a police complaint had he attacked me."

However, Mallikarjun blamed the drivers of VIPs for creating confusion at the toll booths. "There is a lane dedicated for VIPs at the tool plazas. But most of the time, the drivers of VIP vehicles do not drive on the fast-track lane and instead land up in the common lane. When the VIPs question the drivers, the latter would blame the toll booth staff for the delay."

In fact, politicians in Karnataka have been complaining against the lack of exclusive lanes for VIPs and ambulances for sometime now. The issue had come up for discussion during the last legislature session and the government had stated that all toll booth operators have been instructed to maintain separate lanes for VIPs and ambulances.