CT Ravi’s foul-mouthing isn’t an isolated case: DKS

Belagavi: Lashing out BJP MLC C T Ravi for using a derogatory term against Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday said he is a serial abuser.

Speaking to reporters at the Circuit House in Belagavi, he said, “This is not the first time that C T Ravi is foul mouthing someone. We all know the abusive words he used against Siddaramaiah in the past.”

Asked about C T Ravi’s arrest, he said, “In the past he had addressed Siddaramaiah as Sidramulla Khan. He has been foul mouthing our leaders. Is this the culture of Chikkamagaluru? Is it India’s culture? Or is it BJP’s culture? I haven’t seen such a cul-ture in Chikkamagaluru district. He must be the only person from the district with such unscrupulous culture.”

“There was a discussion in the House on Union Home Minister insulting Dr B R Ambedkar, and C T Ravi interfered and called Rahul Gandhi a ‘drug addict’. When Min-ister Lakshmi Hebbalkar jumped in to defend her Party leader, he called her ‘prosti***e’ several times. Is it wrong on our part to defend our leaders like the BJP leaders do for their leaders? Can he use such derogatory word for that,” he questioned.

“He used the word 12 times. The media must take this up seriously. If you don’t have the evidence, I will share it with you. This incident happened when I came to the Legislative Assembly after finishing proceedings in the Legislative Council,” he explained.

Disappointed with Speaker’s move

Asked if the Speaker could have taken action if there was evidence, he said, “He is a senior leader and I have respect for him, but his move in this case is disappointing. He must protect everyone in the House irrespective of the party line. He should have al-lowed discussion on this. He should have investigated it. If Lakshmi Hebbalkar was wrong, he should have called her out. But it is not correct that he called both of them and took a statement.”

Asked about allegations that the Police have moved C T Ravi around all night, he said, “I don’t know what the police have done, people make unnecessary allegations. The Po-lice actually have shown a lot of patience and restraint. It is ok to let family members meet him in Khanapura police station, but it is not right to hold a BJP meeting in the po-lice station. We are not interfering in the police functioning. It is natural that the Minister’s followers are enraged. In spite of him being lodged in a jail in her constituency, we have ensured nothing untoward happened.”