Kumaraswamy tells media he's 'boycotting' them

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday said he was 'boycotting' the media, apparently upset over the coverage of the Mandya Lok Sabha polls, where his son Nikhil Gowda is in the fray.

"I'm boycotting you," an upset Kumaraswamy told reporters who sought his comments after his meeting with Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal here.

"You do whatever you want for your story... Go do it. Go enjoy," he said.

Though the reason for his outburst was not exactly clear, sources said he was upset over the media coverage of the Mandya Lok Sabha polls, where his son Nikhil from JD(S) was pitted against multi-lingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate, in what is perceived to be a cliffhanger contest.

In the run-up to the election to the seat, Kumaraswamy had repeatedly hit out at the media, accusing them of supporting Sumalatha.

This is not the first time the chief minister has spoken about boycotting the media.

In November last year, Kumaraswamy said he would not address the press "for any reason".

He had also said that he would "limit the media to what I speak from the stage."