“Just give your application and leave. That was the message from a Karnataka Congress MLA to a constituent who had turned up at a public grievance programme hoping to be heard.
The incident took place during the inauguration of the Praja Seva Abhiyan, an initiative by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, under which MLAs are expected to meet people directly and listen to their grievances.
A programme meant to take the government to the people instead turned into an embarrassing display of impatience and arrogance, with a video showing Pavagada MLA HV Venkatesh appearing visibly irritated as a resident tried to explain his grievance. The video has since gone viral, triggering outrage among residents and social media users, with many questioning how a programme meant to hear people’s problems could leave them struggling to even finish speaking. The incident took place at YN Hosakote in Karnataka’s Pavagada taluk during the inauguration of the Praja Seva Abhiyan, an initiative by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, under which MLAs are expected to meet people directly and listen to their grievances. Ramajjinappa, a resident of the area, had come with a petition seeking protection of around three acres of government land at the Sante Maidan in YN Hosakote. He alleged that the land had been encroached upon and houses had been constructed on it. A public grievance programme is supposed to give citizens a chance to put their problems directly before their elected representatives. Instead, the viral video appears to show a resident being asked to leave before he could fully make his case.
Because of the setting, the exchange has drawn criticism precisely.
