Congress leader Rajeev Gowda reportedly threatened Shidlaghatta Municipal Commissioner Amruth Gowda over the removal of unauthorized banners and flexi. | Photo credit: The Hindu
Bengaluru
Congress leader BV Rajeev Gowda from Shidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur district allegedly threatened the municipal commissioner of the city to set fire to her office and get her beaten up and used abusive language over the flexi and the banner was removed for violating norms.
An audio recording of Mr. Gowda’s phone call to Municipal Commissioner Amruth Gowda was leaked to the media. Opposition leaders HD Kumaraswamy and R. Ashok, among others, criticized the government.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Chikkaballapur District Minister Dr. Condemning the incident, MC Sudhakar said the law will take its own course.
Booked
A few hours later on Wednesday evening, the police have now registered Rajeev Gowda, who was the Congress candidate from Shidlaghatta in the 2023 assembly elections, on the complaint of the municipal commissioner, but lost.
The incident reportedly happened on Tuesday night when an event was held to promote Kannada film Cult starring Zaid Khan, son of BZ Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan. Flexes and banners were put up across the city for the event, including the Kote Circle, which was removed by the CMC following public complaints.
Mr. Gowda is said to have called the Municipal Commissioner and even when she tried to tell him that the flex caused the accident and there were complaints and so it was removed, Mr. Gowda is heard abusing and threatening her. “I’m going to get people in your office to run. There will be riots in all 31 departments,” the man is heard saying on the call.
The protest took place
Shidlaghatta CMC employees staged a protest on Wednesday demanding action against Mr. Gowda, even as Amrutha Gowda cut short the conversation with media persons. “I was a software engineer and my husband lives abroad. But I left a good package and became a KAS officer to serve the people. In my five years of service, no one spoke to me like that,” she said.
However, Mr. Gowda, speaking to the media, denied using abusive words and said he was upset over the civic problems in 31 wards of the city.
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said he spoke to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and demanded that the lady officer be protected. “Under this government, small issues like flex and banners are blowing up and turning into law and order issues,” he said. The BJP demanded Mr. Gowda’s arrest and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok demanded suo motu action by the Karnataka State Commission for Women.
Published – 14 Jan 2026 22:49 IST
