Selfie: DKS finally obliges

What is that one thing KPCC President DK Shivakumar hates? It is selfie seekers. Cases are umpteen when the Congress leader has pushed aside a selfie seeker. He has gone to the extent of throwing away the mobile phone of one of his many fans on one occasion.

For a change, he obliged everyone who wanted to frame themselves with him. It happened during the six-day padayatra from Ramanagar to Bengaluru. Many of his young fans came to him with the request to have a picture with him. Instead of shooing them away or shouting at them, the Kanakapura ‘Bande’ agreed to pose with them, albeit with a cheeky smile. Many were astonished to see their leader agreeing for selfies because of his allergy to it for a long time. The charismatic politician may have decided to win hearts of the youth rather than hitting out at them for just seeking a selfie.

Slew of padayatras
After the Congress started a padayatra over the Mekedatu project, grandsons of former PM, HD Deve Gowda and the scions of Janata Dal (Secular) undertook a padayatra separately, but for a divine cause.

Hassan JDS MP, Prajwal Revanna walked from Hassan to Dharmasthala seeking Lord Manjunateshwar’s help to bail him out of problems pertaining to the statement of assets and liabilities filed at the time of contesting the general election. Since the Supreme Court has given permission to probe it, his father ‘Lemon HD Revanna’ may have suggested that his son undertake the padayatra to Dharmasthala to ward off evil forces.

Another scion and upcoming Kannada actor, Nikhil Kumaraswamy scaled the Male Mahadeshwara Hills from Talabetta in Chamarajanagar district for his success in the field of politics as well as cinema. Growing long hair and a beard, Nikhil walked up to the hilltop to have darshan of Male Mahadeshwara. The family of Deve Gowda does not begin anything without consulting astrologers or holding a special puja. Deve Gowda and both his sons in politics, Revanna and Kumaraswamy do temple runs very frequently for their party to come to power in the state.

Dance Siddu, dance
The sound of drums makes Siddaramaiah want to dance. He has done this many times in the past. During the recent padayatra, the former CM did this every morning when the drums were sounded off. Tying a cotton Shalya to his forehead, he put steps according to the tune and enthralled workers and the general public at large.

It is well known that the former CM, the Huliya, danced during the special puja held in his native Siddaramanahundi in Mysuru taluk every year. Also, he has been doing the ‘Devara kunita’ since childhood. Siddaramaiah does the same dance even now. His bindaas approach to the gruelling walk sure warmed the cockles of the beholders’ hearts!