Did not insult woman farmer, she insulted me: CM

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who is battling a political storm for his controversial remarks on a woman farmer, on Monday claimed that he had neither disrespected the woman nor had he said anything wrong.

Stating that he would never disrespect a woman, Kumaraswamy said he would step down as the chief minister, if ever he ended up being discourteous to the fairer gender.

Pointing fingers at the BJP for politicising his remarks, Kumaraswamy said he would withdraw his statement, if the woman farmer was genuinely offended by it.

The chief minister, during the Krishi Mela event at Bengaluru on Sunday, had attacked a woman farmer for having called him ‘nalayak’ (useless).

The woman was among the scores of protesters who have been staging agitations against the government for not coming to the aid of sugarcane farmers.

Kumaraswamy had said, “Thayi, where were you sleeping for the last four years?” - triggering the protests”.

“I have said nothing that I should be sorry about. All I asked her was where she has been the last four years. The colloquial reference (where were you sleeping) has been misinterpreted. Also, I have used the word ‘thayi,’ (mother) when I addressed her. I meant no disrespect to her. But she addressed me in the singular and called me nalayak. By doing so, she has not just disrespected and insulted me it is an insult to the state," he said.

"I have been asked to apologise to the woman. If the phrase is really offensive, I am willing to withdraw it. The issue has been politicised. I will not continue as a chief minister even for a second if ever I end up disrespecting a woman,” he added.