Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde escaped an alleged attempt on his life yesterday night. Anant Kumar Hegde is the Member of Parliament from the Uttara Kannada constituency and this is his fifth consecutive term as an MP from Karnataka .Hegde had kicked off his campaigning in support of the BJP candidates yesterday by inaugurating the BJP Election Office in Ankola.
A deliberate attempt on my life seems to have been executed just now. A truck on NH, near Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district has hit my escort vehicle which tried to hit my vehicle in the first instance. Since our vehicle was in top speed we escaped the hit. pic.twitter.com/2w8zzq26UU
— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
The first campaign trail he led was for party candidate Roopali Naik for the Karwar Vidhan Sabha constituency. The incident happened near the Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district on National Highway (NH). The truck driver, Nasir, had earlier driven his truck in the wrong direction and parked it on the road horizontally. As soon as the MPs convoy reached the area where the truck was parked, the driver allegedly drove the truck at a furious pace and tried to hit Hegde’s car. All the vehicles in the convoy were moving fast and the MPs car went ahead without a scratch.
However our support staff in the escort vehicle has suffered severe injuries in the form of shoulder fracture. pic.twitter.com/aMm16rNo9r
— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
However the MP’s escort vehicle was hit and its occupants were not as lucky as the truck rammed into the escort vehicle. The support staff of Hegde who were inside the car suffered severe injuries owing to the reckless driving of the truck driver. The driver of the truck was caught by the local people after the incident. Prima facie, he did not seem to be under the influence of alcohol or any drugs.
But unfortunately, our escort vehicle running behind us got hit and one of our staff has been injured seriously with shoulder fracture. The driver named Naser has been caught hold by the localites and seems to be normal without any alcholic hangover. pic.twitter.com/2LJIHVVBLw
— Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) April 17, 2018
The reckless driving by the truck driver who was in the right frame of mind led the minister to believe that it was a deliberate attempt on his life. The minister also questioned the back story of this incident claiming it to be the work of a “bigger nexus” that would be exposed when the Police investigates the driver.
There are some minor points which should not be left unnoticed here. Anant Kumar Hegde is an MP from Karnataka. He had started campaigning ahead of the Karnataka legislative assembly elections which will take place in May 2018. He is an influential politician and 5 terms MP from the state. There is no questioning his popularity amongst the voters in the state. Hegde also was under attack from the opposition in Centre in December 2017 when he demanded the Constitution be turned back to its pure, original form.
https://twitter.com/AnantkumarH/status/986309901902204928
The 42nd amendment carried out by Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi during the dark period of Emergency had added the word “secular” in the Preamble amongst many other controversial changes to the Constitution. The chief opponent of adding the words “Secular, Federal, Socialist” was the principal architect of the Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar himself. Dr. Ambedkar wanted the people in the democracy to choose the social and economic structure of the society they were living in. He opposed the proposal of K.T. Shah in 1946 and the Constitution and the Preamble had remained intact until 1976.
Anant Kumar Hegde was voicing his opinion on the issue as he wanted the Constitution to be reverted back to its pure and original form of Dr. Ambedkar’s time. His statements were misconstrued and bent to raise a controversy and bring the ruling party under attack.
The video shared by Anant Kumar Hegde clearly shows the impact of the collision between the truck and escort car. The minister escaped a brutal accident by a few inches. Thankfully there was no loss of lives in the accident but foul play cannot be ruled out here. The driver must be interrogated and his background must be checked thoroughly. The allegations of the MP are not baseless, it might be an attempt on the life of a prominent member from the BJP Karnataka wing and it needs to be dealt with the seriousness it demands.
