War of words break out between JD(S) leader and ex-Cong minister at press conference in Mysuru

A war of words broke out Sunday between a JD(S) leader and a former Congress minister at a press conference in Mysuru that was supposed to be a show of unity for the coalition partners in the Karnataka government.

An argument broke out after former Congress minister Tanvir Sait said that some people were standing behind those sitting on the dais but JD(S) leader Narayana took objection to it and walked out of the press conference.

The development unfolded in the presence of JD(S) state president H Vishwanath, ministers G T Deve Gowda, Sa Ra Mahesh, Piriyapatna MLA K Mahadev, T Narasipura MLA Ashwin Kumar, MLC Marithibbe Gowda and other senior functionaries of both the parties.

The show of unity was aimed at sending across the signal that the Congress and the JD(S) have set aside their differences to fight the Lok Sabha election together in favour of Congress candidate C H Vijayashankar.

A couple of days ago, differences cropped up between the allies when JD(S) workers raised pro-Modi slogans to vent their anger against the alleged hostility of Congress in Mandya and Hassan.

The JD(S) leadership has alleged that certain Congress leaders were out to defeat Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and nephew Prajwal, who are contesting their maiden elections from Mandya and Hassan, respectively.