BS Yeddyurappa apologises for minister’s road rage

Road rage can sometimes bring out the worst in you but if you are a Cabinet-rank minister it could be really bad.  A real estate agent and his 24-year-old son got roughed up by labour minister BN Bachche Gowda’s men for overtaking his vehicle.

Their ordeal didn’t end there. The minister, then, went to a local police station and filed a complaint against the duo for rash driving. Gowda also refused to pay heed to chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s advice on Monday to end the petty matter by apologising to the victims.

The incident happened near Nelamangala at about 6pm on Sunday when Bachche Gowda was returning to Bangalore in his Toyota Corolla from Hassan.

Bharath Gowda and his father Lokappa overtook the minister’s convoy.

An irritated Bachche Gowda reportedly told his driver to speed up and stop Bharath from overtaking his vehicle. But maintenance work on the road and the diversions slowed the minister’s vehicle down and Bharath overtook the minister’s vehicle.

Bachche Gowda’s driver finally caught up with Bharath and forced him to stop near Solur village. The driver, along with the minister’s gunman, then allegedly pulled Bharath and Lokappa out of their car and assaulted them. Bachche Gowda said he will “teach them a lesson,” an eyewitness told DNA.

The minister then lodged a complaint with the Nelamangala police against Bharath for rash and negligent driving, and the police filed a case, which did not warrant an arrest.

Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who learnt about the incident, said he was “deeply pained” at his minister’s behaviour and apologised to Bharath and his family.

“I cannot tolerate such behaviour from any of my ministers. I can understand the pain and agony Bharath’s family would have undergone. So I apologise on behalf of the minister,”

Yeddyurappa said. He said he would summon Bachche Gowda and Bharath to end the bitterness. “I will also instruct the police to withdraw the case filed against Bharath,” he said. But Bachche Gowda is in no mood to budge. “Why should I apologise? If the chief minister has apologised to a mischief-monger I can’t do anything? I cannot tolerate the mischief he (Bharath) committed. He should have been subjected to medical test to see whether he was drunk when he entered into a brawl with us,” the minister said.