M B Patil; Tejasvi Surya.
Credit: DH Photos
What started as a rare exchange of appreciation on social media soon turned into a politically heated exchange between BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and Karnataka minister M B Patil.
The duo have, for some time now, been sharing each other's social media posts with their own personal inputs. This back-and-forth began on October 19 when Patil appreciated the younger politician when the latter posted about his interaction with the Consul-General of Singapore in Chennai on the upcoming KWIN City project near Bengaluru.
Patil shared Surya's tweet with the comment, "Good to see that young MP @Tejasvi_Surya is positively supporting initiatives, beyond party lines."
He further went on to encourage other MPs of the state to come forward "to help secure more projects to the State, most importantly at least one semiconductor plant. (sic)."
Tejasvi caught onto this post by Patil and followed suit. In his post, the BJP leader at first agreed with Patil that "development projects should transcend party politics."
However, Surya did not forget to remind the Congressman that the vision for this city was of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
In a post on X, the 33-year-old told Patil, "Congratulations to you personally for taking forward and bringing to reality the vision set by the earlier BJP govt under CM Shri @BSBommai. Really good work! (sic)"
"It’s a great example for the Nation that even with change of guard in Government, Karnataka has policy continuity, which indicates maturity of our State’s polity (sic)," Surya further added.
This is the post that seems to have irked the minister, who changed his tone in his next post and charged at Surya by saying, "When you were in kindergarten, I was a Member of Parliament. When you were just born I was a Legislator. I was the youngest member of the then parliament and assembly respectively."
"I suggest you don’t play your petty politics with me," Patil said.
Patil disagreed with Surya claim that it was Bommai who had envisioned such a city. He said, "Development projects should indeed rise above politics. However, let's set the record straight. There was no concrete plan for a 'Knowledge City' from Sh Bommai. If you can show the plan and location, I'll resign. If not, I demand your resignation."
Patil also asked Surya if he had 'the guts' to stand in front of the Prime Minister and ask for "Karnataka's rightful share of resources and secure a semiconductor plant." "Or is your work limited to Social Media Posts?," he added.
The BJP MP in his next post wondered, "Not sure what triggered you this much. I have known you for your work inside and outside of Government, and I tweeted Congratulations to you personally for steering the project, entirely in good faith."
He went on to share a interview of former CM Basavaraj Bommai with DH wherein he can he heard talking about 'high-class smart satellite towns" with good connectivity to Bengaluru in order to boost overall development of the state.
"You are a senior politician Sir. Talking so crudely about my age doesn’t augur well with your good stature. Ageism, in fact, is a disease that is as condemnable as racism. Hope better temperament prevails next time," Surya concluded.
Only time will tell if this social media spat between the two politicians will continue.