Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar denied being pushed or humiliated by Rahul Gandhi during Monday's march to the Supreme Court, saying Rahul had asked him to sit inside a vehicle. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma criticised Rahul over the video, calling it public humiliation and drawing parallels with his own 2015 exit from Congress.
DK Shivakumar responds to collar-pulling row
New Delhi,Oct 13, 2026 18:33 IST
After Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused Rahul Gandhi of publicly humiliating DK Shivakumar by grabbing him by the collar during Monday’s march to the Supreme Court, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister told India Today that he was neither pushed nor humiliated. He said Rahul had instead asked him to sit inside a vehicle. Shivakumar added that he had been jostled by the crowd and dismissed the allegations of insult, saying, “Karnataka BJP loves me.”
Earlier in the day, Sarma attacked Rahul Gandhi over a video that showed the Congress leader pulling Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar by the collar from behind. Calling it ‘public humiliation,’ Sarma asked whether Shivakumar would accept such treatment.
Posting the clip on X, Sarma drew a parallel with his own fallout with Rahul Gandhi in 2015, when he was still in the Congress. He said he had refused to accept what he saw as humiliation and linked the latest episode to Rahul Gandhi’s political image.
According to Sarma, Rahul Gandhi had offered him biscuits in his pet dog's plate. Shortly after, he left Congress.
"In 2015, I refused to swallow humiliation, as a proud Assamese. God was kind to me," Sarma wrote on X.
"The Chief Minister of Karnataka is not just an individual. He is in a constitutional office, and the face of a state with a glorious history, a rich culture and deep pride. Will he bow to this public humiliation?"
In another remark aimed at the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, Sarma wrote, ‘Reinvention can’t hide arrogance. Change the mask all you like; the face beneath stays the same.’
The remarks came as the video gave Rahul Gandhi’s political opponents an opening to criticise his treatment of a senior Congress leader and the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Several BJP leaders and supporters reacted to the footage, while Sarma, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2015, also used the episode to draw a parallel with his own contentious exit from the party.
In the video from the march, Shivakumar is seen moving through a large crowd of Congress workers towards the frontline, where Rahul Gandhi was walking alongside Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Neha Bora.
As the Karnataka Chief Minister tried to move ahead from Rahul Gandhi’s right side, Rahul Gandhi appeared to pull him backwards by the collar of his kurta.
Shivakumar then seemed to lose his balance and was pushed further back by Rahul Gandhi’s security personnel. Another clip from the march showed Rahul Gandhi pulling Shivakumar’s collar, apparently moving him away from the frontline.
In 2015, I refused to swallow humiliation, as a proud Assamese. God was kind to me. The Chief Minister of Karnataka is not just an individual. He is a constitutional office, and the face of a State with a glorious history, a rich culture and deep pride. Will he bow to this public humiliation? “Reinvention” can't hide arrogance. Change the mask all you like; the face beneath stays the same.— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 13, 2026
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya was among those who reacted sharply to the footage.
"Politics aside, CM of Karnataka DK Shivakumar represents Karnataka. Such public humiliation is an insult to the dignity of 7 crore Kannadigas," the BJP MP from Bengaluru wrote.
The clip quickly drew criticism from BJP leaders and other critics of Rahul Gandhi, with Sarma’s remarks emerging as one of the strongest responses to the incident.
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