Overview
- During a Kempe Gowda Jayanti procession in Chikkaballapur, a slipper was allegedly hurled at Congress MLA Pradeep Eshwar while he rode in an open jeep and it missed him.
- Attendees and local reports identified JD(S) workers as the likely actors who earlier objected to Eshwar’s presence and then confronted him, although formal responsibility remains under investigation.
- Police detained two people for questioning, Superintendent of Police Kushal Chouksey reviewed the security at the event, and authorities said they are re-assessing the protection provided to the MLA.
- Karnataka Congress president B. K. Hariprasad called the act cowardly and Congress supporters staged a protest at the Chikkaballapur Deputy Commissioner’s residence demanding arrests and stronger security.
- The MLA framed the incident as an insult to an OBC leader, bringing caste-based rhetoric into the dispute and raising the risk that the episode will harden local political mobilization and messaging.